Mickey Hill Pocket WildernessThe Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness Trail is owned and maintained by Bowater Mersey Paper Co., Ltd. There are three trails; the Picnic Trail, The Beach Trail and the Ski Trail for a total length of 5.6 km. The 1 km long Picnic Trail leads to the beginning of the other two trails. The trail is well blazed with boardwalks, stairs and a suspension bridge as it travels through a softwood forest into a hardwood stand. As the name suggest there is a picnic area on this trail. The Beach Trail is also well blazed as it travels through a mixed forest to a beach on the lake. You are welcome to swim here at your own risk. You will probably see many local people using this beach, as it is fairly popular in the area. The third trail, the Ski Trail is 2 km long and is marked by blue squares nailed to trees. This trail travels through mixed woods into a stand of really high Alders and Ash trees.
You will find the Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness Trail by taking exit 22 off the highway 101 and turning left onto Route 8 and watch for the signs after approximately 10 km.
Join my sister and I on a very pleasant spring walk around two of these wonderful trails. This year my sister, Judy and I decided we should do more walking. We both needed the exercise to stretch our muscles after a long winter of sitting in front of the computer. We both enjoy nature and we both had digital cameras we wanted to try out, so we thought we would try out the many walking trails around the valley.
We decided on the Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness Trails as one of our first ones. Well the weather on the day we were going helped us to decide. It was a fairly windy day and we thought the trail through the woods would give us some protection from the wind. We were right; it was just a perfect day to be on this trail. Steps leading to the swing bridge It is early in May and not all the signs have been put up at the trail head yet, but there is still a map to show where the trails lead. There is no trouble at all to follow the trails; they are well cleared and marked. Even though we were walking in the woods it was very easy walking on these paths. The Bowater Mersey Co., Ltd. does a good job keeping up the trails at the Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness. There are wooden bridges over the small brooks and streams and boardwalks over any wet areas. There are also hand-railed steps to help you climb up any steep hills. We start out on the Picnic Trail which heads through a hardwood forest towards the river that we can hear in the distance.
Boardwalk in Mickey Hill Wilderness Trail A little farther on there is a path leading off the trail to an observation spot. The steps lead up beside another huge rock and we were amazed at the ferns growing on the rock. They were not just growing around the rock, they were growing right on top of it. The observation spot was a very good vantage point to view the Mickey Hill River where it went under the bridge for the Route 8 highway; it was a very pretty spot. We come back down to the main trail and follow along it to the river's edge. As we approach the Mickey Hill River we find it was quite full with the spring run-off still flowing down. The higher water level made for fast moving rapids over the rocks and full deep still water areas. It also made for some fantastic picture taking, and we took lots of pictures all along the Mickey Hill Trail.
The River by the Picnic Area and the nice gurgling stream running beside you is very relaxing. I will have to remember to come back to the Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness for a picnic this summer. The trail follows along the river for a bit and then turns back into the woods. Not too far from there we came to a path leading back to the parking lot via the swinging bridge. Next comes the turn off for the Mickey Hill Ski Trail. We decide not to take that trail today; we will come back another day to do that one. We are now turning onto the Mickey Hill Beach Trail and the woods are more of a mixed forest with moss and ferns covering the ground.
A rest area and look off point nature to see along these Mickey Hill Wilderness Trails. The trail is heading back towards the river again and we soon come to an old rest area built around a tree. Beside it there is a platform look off pointing over a meadow towards a nice
A Still Water along the Mickey Hill Trail Then the path heads back into the woods where we walk through a stand of softwood forest predominately pine trees. A thick layer of pine needles and leaves cover the ground with moss growing on top giving a spongy looking effect. The easy trail zigzags around the trees and rocks and we can't help but take in the beauty of the area. Then we stop to listen to the sound of a woodpecker pecking away at a tree and some other birds singing their springtime songs. How relaxing the woods can be here at Mickey Hill.
Woods Trail at Mickey Hill Trail out to Mickey Hill and Lambs Lake for a cool dip on a hot day. The lake itself is very pretty, with an island out in the middle just in front of us. The woods grow right down to the rocky shoreline and everything just ties in for a pretty picture. We can see a few cabins on the other side of the lake, but they are the only ones leaving the lake basically untouched.
There are several rocks sticking up through the water making the lake not much good for powerboats, but it would be nice for a canoe. In fact I wish I had a canoe there now to explore the rest of the lake around the bend. As we turn to go back Judy notices a mayflower on the beach Lambs Lake Island that had been dropped by somebody. Have you ever smelled a mayflower? The scent of this little flower is so sweet; I have never found anything to compare it to. We look around for a mayflower patch; the flower must have been picked from somewhere. There is a trail over on the other side of the beach, so we follow along it to see if we can find some mayflowers. Unfortunately not far in we come to quite a swampy area too wet for us to cross so we have to turn back a little disappointed.
Lambs Lake, Greywood, Annapolis Co., NS head back on the Mickey Hill Trail. We cover the same ground we came in on until we get back to the spot the trails branched off from each other. We decide to take the path that goes over the swing or suspension bridge this time. We only go a short distance when we see the bridge spanned over another small brook. We stop to take more pictures of this brook as it weaves around moss-covered rocks and trees.
Swing Bridge at Mickey Hill Trail couple of pictures and then descend down the steps on the other side back to the path we had first started out on and back to the parking lot. This was a good walk; we picked a great day for it to. The complete walk around the two Mickey Hill trails took us about an hour and a half but we walked slow, and stopped a lot to take pictures. You could comfortably do this walk in under an hour and still take time to enjoy the scenery. It is a very pretty walk with lots to see along the way. Mickey Hill Pocket Wilderness Trail would be a great walk to do with the kids. We were early enough in the year there were no bugs, but I would suggest you bring bug spray with you.
Leave the Mickey Hill Trail and return to check out other trails in Annapolis County.
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I know this area is very rocky but I was amazed with just how big some of these boulders are, they are gigantic. Not far into the trail, off to our right is a huge rock formation. At the bottom of this rock formation it looks like there are two small caves. We did not go up to it to see for sure, but it did look neat. 
At the river's edge we look around and we are amazed at what a beautiful area for a picnic this is. There are two or three picnic tables along the river and a couple more back in the woods a little farther. It is not too far down the path either so it would be easy to carry the picnic lunch and accessories in. The area is complete with shady areas or sunny spots
We are talking and walking along just enjoying the day when we see another big rock this time with a tree growing on top of it. There is moss also growing on the rock and it must be hiding the tree roots because I did not see any roots big enough to hold the tree up. It looks just like the tree is growing up through the middle of the rock. There sure is some neat things in
still water area in the distance. Unfortunately the bushes have grown up between the platform and the still water so we did not get a good look at it until a little farther along the path. We follow along the Mickey Hill River again passing a small meadow and the still water. 
After a short walk through the woods we come out onto a beach on the shore of Lamb's Lake. It is a nice sandy little beach, great for spreading out a towel and sunbathing on. The water is still a little high so later in the summer the beach would be a little larger. The water is clear and the bottom is sandy. In the summertime many of the local people come
Just as we are about to return to the Mickey Hill Wilderness Trail Judy spots a small patch of mayflowers. They grow so close to the ground and their big green leaves cover the flower from view so they are very hard to see. Once you find one flower and pick it up you start to see many more flowers hiding under their leaves. We pick a few mayflowers and then
There are a couple steps to get up to the swing bridge and then you step down onto it and walk across the short distance to the other side. The bridge is built quite solid with chain rails on both sides, but it is suspended across the little valley and brook and so it swings as you walk across it. On the other side you go up a few steps and then you can go up to a platform to look back down at the bridge. We take a 
