Thickson's Woods

Thickson's Woods is the last remnant of old-growth white pines on the north shore of Lake Ontario. Once reserved for masts of sailing ships of the British Royal Navy, the towering pines provide a vital resting place for countless migrating songbirds each spring and fall. Galvanized into action when the woods was threatened with logging in 1983, a handful of naturalists formed a non-profit corporation and purchased the woods. Donations from hundreds of caring people, from as far away as England and Japan, raised $150,000 to pay off the mortgage. Thickson's Woods became the first natural area to be listed in the Ontario Nature Trust Alliance registry. Today we face a greater challenge: protecting this tiny natural jewel from encroaching development. Purchasing an 8 1/2 acre meadow along the Waterfront Trail, just north of the woods, will buffer this fragile piece of woodland habitat from the fumes and noise of trucks and industry.