Return to Allco Park

R alph and I first visited Allco Park last summer to operate our radios in the parks-on-the-air program. That visit we did a bit of exploring but mostly spent time on our radios. The park caught Ralph’s attention, and he hoped to return for a photo session. The day finally arrived for our non-radio park adventure. We left my home a bit before 11am and set out for coffee and the park. Our drive went smoothly with minimal traffic delays and soon we were driving into the small parking lot. The park is actually fairly small, 27 acres, but it hugs the Alouette River on two sides and offers some lovely old trees.

When we arrived, the lot had a single car in it. The park looked a bit forlorn in the the cool cloudy sky, I guess people weren’t as interested in the outdoors on such a day. We parked, grabbed our cameras and started down the main road/walkway into the park. We soon came by the river and dropped down to the edge to gather a few photos. Back on the walkway we spotted a single picnic table across the grassy field, and we decided to eat our lunch on it. While eating we watched numerous small groups of kids running around the trails. It caught us by surprise as there were no cars/busses in the lot.

Done we lunch we headed into the trees where some groups of kids had emerged earlier. The short trail soon connected to a main graveled trail, and we followed it towards the river stopping often to gather a photo. We came upon a number fenced corrals. The first I saw had the number 15 posted on it, this caught my attention and I went looking for 14 eventually finding it and the rest of the sequence. The corrals were small, and I wondered what they were for. I assume horses but they seemed small and why number them? We continued exploring and followed another main trail to the north. This one led to the fish hatchery that borders the park on the north. 

We arrived at the fence of the hatchery and noticed lots of display signage in the yard explaining the fish story. The fence itself was decorated with a trail of fish. As we walked the trail alongside the fence the kids we saw earlier came by as a group and poured into the open gate to the hatchery. We followed along stopping to read some of the information displays. Unfortunately, we were soon met by a chap explaining that it was actually not open to the public and the kids were here for a weeklong day camp. The displays were for their open house events but as they were running kids camps it was not the right time for two strangers with cameras to wander by! We returned to the park and made our way to the river.

Following along the trails skirting the water we were able to enjoy some nice views of the river and trees. With the kids gone to their camp we were pretty much alone in the park, there were a few people who came by but they were all here to walk their dogs through the trees. It is a nice easy group of trails to enjoy a bit of nature while exercising one’s dog. We noticed that a major trail crossed the river and continued on the other bank heading for a waterfall. Ralph and I both decided that we weren’t prepared for water crossings and so we would forego the waterfall adventure. I guess we will need to return prepared to ford the river in style.

As we slowly made our way back to the car we marveled at the size of the moss-covered trees and thought about how old they would be. The area was logged in the early 1900’s so these weren’t original growth trees, but they were still older than us and quite huge. The drooping moss on the branches definitely adds to the grandeur of the scene. We eventually made our way back to the car. It had been a lovely visit though no Llamas were present today like they were last time. It was mid-afternoon and Ralph needed to get back, so we loaded our cameras and bodies into the car and set out for home. The return drive was not quite a mirror of the way we came as the navcom avoided one busier section of road, but we made good time with few delays. It had been a fun day out despite having no radios.