Few things so define the West Hill area as does its proximity to Lake Ontario and its dramatic perch atop the Scarborough Bluffs. John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806), the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, and his wife first noticed the Bluffs as they arrived to undertake their duties in what was to become the Province of Ontario. So impressed by the similarity of the great clay bluffs to a geographic formation back home in Britain, Lady Simcoe suggested they be named the Scarborough Bluffs and the name gave birth to the entire region.

The new Cross Canada Heritage Trail will wind across the top and bottom of the bluffs. The trail will serve a double purpose in giving access to the lake for hikers and by acting as a buffer against erosion, preserving the homes on the top of the bluffs from plunging into the cold waters of Lake Ontario.

While the Heritage Trail will make accessible one of the most beautiful and dramatic of Ontario's urban features, I, for one, will miss the solitude and feeling of escape made possible by simply climbing down the bluffs to the small beach that ran along its base. There my brothers and I, in our youth, would play for most of the summer without seeing another soul. Who needed a two hour drive to the cottage when access to one of the world's largest lakes was only one adventurous climb away--and our own private playground!

Even today, when the need for solitude comes upon me, nothing so enriches my soul as a walk to the bluffs and a few moments alone with the great lake that stretches away to the horizon.

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