Barker's Bush is a

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

located in the Grand River watershed near the banks of the Nith River in the community of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

County of Brant The County of Brant (2021 population 39,474) is a single-tier municipality in the Canadian province of Ontario. Although it retains the word "county" in its name, the municipality is a single-tier municipal government and has no upper tier. The C ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The bush is directly north and west of Lion's Park, and less than one kilometre northwest of the confluence of the Nith and the Grand rivers. Consisting of a mix of both

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

ous and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees common to the Carolinian forests of southwestern Ontario, the bush itself is riddled with extensive bike and hiking trails which are used frequently, especially so through the warmer months (typically late Spring through early Fall). The vast majority of Barkers Bush historically has been located on private property, however, trespassing has generally been accepted and the public has used the trails extensively for many years. Historically, the only public land entrance to the bush was through Lion's Park, however, this changed in 2002 when the local municipality built a steel footbridge from the east banks of the Nith to the west banks located in the bush itself. In 2016 Losani Homes purchased the agricultural fields in which Barkers Bush surrounds to develop a new subdivision, as well as some of the forest itself. In response the County of Brant bought roughly 100 acres of Barkers Bush in 2019 to preserve the rest of the forest and trails within it. The skeletal remains of the river dam found at the southeastern edge of the bush are a relic from an era when shipping traffic was common on the Nith.

References

* Forests of Ontario Geography of the County of Brant {{WesternOntario-geo-stub