- by Angus Inksetter
On October 5 a dozen individuals embarked on a driving tour of central Grey County. The idea
was to enjoy the great display of tree colours, particularly the reds, oranges, and other shades ofthe sugar maples. While there were indeed a few spectacular specimens we were slightly in ad-
vance of the height of the display, but the beauty of the landscape and the satisfaction of explor-
ing some of the many attractive back roads of the county made the excursion well worth while.Other notable sights presented themselves too: a Pileated Woodpecker at our start and finish
point in Crawford, a mature Bald Eagle and a Red-tailed Hawk adding some excitement along the
way. At Walters Falls we spent some time admiring the falls and learning some of the history if
the site, and at Berkeley we discovered a fine picnic spot on Highway 10.
One interesting aspect of the tour was an awareness of the many watersheds whose upper reach-
es we crossed. In effect, our route encircled the highest land in this part of the county, with riversflowing out in all directions from under our vehicles as we passed. We started from the hamlet ofCrawford, where the Styx River crossed our path as it flowed south to join the main Saugeen Riv-
er north of Allan Park. A little farther along we crossed the North Saugeen where it heads west tojoin the Saugeen just outside Paisley. Over the height of land north of Mooresburg we passed
through wetlands where the very farthest reaches of the Sauble River begin seeping their way
northwest toward their point of entry into Lake Huron north of Sauble Beach. Turning east, wesaw a small stream which was the young Sydenham River, and a little later the Spey, a Syden-
ham tributary. These streams flow north to empty into Georgian Bay at Owen Sound. Over an-
other drumlin we were in the valley of the Bighead River, a breathtakingly scenic area we trav-
ersed several times. The valley is less renowned than the larger Beaver Valley, not as deeply in-
cised or as long, but it is nevertheless a lovely area and well worth multiple visits. This river windsits course northeast to its mouth in Meaford, on Georgian Bay.
After our stop at Walters Falls, where a branch of the Bighead River makes a dramatic plunge
over the escarpment into a deep gorge below, we headed south through the wetlands in the
source area of the Bighead to return to the Saugeen watershed and the Styx River, where we
started our journey.