Navigate Ken Reid Conservation area in Lindsay by glowing holiday lights this December – Peterborough

You can now visit the Ken Reid Conservation Area near Lindsay, Ontario after dark. But you don’t even need your flashlight for this excursion, as the Illuminated Forest features a path lined with thousands of lights.

“This is a project that Kawartha Conservation created to get people out into the forest at a different time of day and for a lot of people, a different time of year,” said Kristie Virgoe, director of stewardship and conservation lands at Kawartha Conservation.

“It just celebrates the magic of the season and gets people excited for Christmas.”

And there’s definitely something magical about it. Imagine trees draped in white Christmas lights guiding you through the forest.

The lighted path is about 200m long and it takes about 20 minutes to walk the route. Virgo said even a short walk in the woods can have a big impact, adding that spending time outside during the winter months is important.

“We have fewer hours of sunshine and there are a lot of people affected by being a little more closed in the winter,” she said.

“So it’s important to get out there, interact with the trees and get those happy hormones going, especially at this time of year.”

This was made possible by a regional tourism grant RTO8, federal government money distributed across the province. There is no entry fee, but there is a $4 per vehicle parking fee.

Now, Virgoe said that due to the overwhelming response from the public, the Kawartha Conservation team is looking to continue the tradition going forward.

“I’m just blown away by the positive comments our team has received and it just feeds our souls. We’re just so excited to be able to bring this to the community,” she said.

The ad runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day until the end of December.

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