4.6 km hiking trail: Click on map below for interactive map of trail

The Speed River Trail runs beside the Speed River from behind the Guelph Humane Society to Blackbridge Rd, just north of Hespeler. From there, Cambridge hiking trails lead to the confluence of the Speed River and the Grand. The trail is maintained by the Guelph Hiking Trail Club. We hiked the first 2 sections in 2019, but the guidebook warned against hiking in the fall during hunting season and that it can be wet and mosquito-y. We left the final section to a nice spring day, before the mosquito season. We wore our waterproof boots just in case. However, although the trail was damp in sections, the Guelph Hiking Trail Club has put boards over the muddy sections and built a boardwalk through the wettest part of the swamp, so we could have hiked the entire section without getting our shoes wet. The trail is well marked with orange blazes on the main trail and blue blazes on side trails.

The trail starts on the south side of Speed River bridge on Hwy 132. The bridge is very narrow with no pedestrian facilities and there is a lot of traffic, including large trucks, so it is best to park beside the road south of the bridge. From there, the trail follows close to the river, winding through woodlots and wetlands. Early spring flowers were in full bloom and the birds were courting noisily in the trees. Unfortunately, there is an enormous gravel pit with noisy trucks and machinery on the other side of the river for much of the first half of the trail, which spoils the illusion of being far from civilization. Hiking on a weekend would probably be much quieter.

Numerous fiddleheads of indigenous ostrich ferns were poking their heads above the ground. One unusual native plant that we spotted was the large-flowered bellwort.

The Speed River Trail ends at the historic Black Bridge, where eager kayakers were putting their craft into the water.