Belwood Lake Conservation Area

Wonderful Rail Trail from park (Shand Dam) to Belwood. Belwood Snax Restaurant is everyones favourite destination.including the locals!

It was okay, nothing special. I visited from Toronto so I was probably expecting more. The lakes were murky and the sand in some of the lakes were rocky so taking a dip even just your feet would hurt. I've been to better parks and lakes around the GTA. The dam wasn't special either. It's good for a casual barbecue day or if you live just around the area.

Lovely small beach with a great fenced off area for young swimmers and mature shade trees for the shade loving. The washrooms were clean with non-potable water to wash your hands.

Ontario gem. Beautiful, clean place. You don’t need Hawaii, this is Hawaii in Ontario during summer season. Only missing is salty ocean water and big waves.

We entered the park coming through the bike trail, we were able to use the bathrooms which are pretty clean for a camp style outhouse. Hand sanitizer containers were empty so bring your own, the dam itself is amazing to see there is even a flight of stairs leading down to the bottom there is 115 of them in total so it's a good workout. Lots of places to eat lunch with picnic table and you can take a break here on the way through.

That is the best view of heaven that someone can see it. It has another beneficial part; the picnic part is so close to your parking car even you can pull over your car near wherever you sit.

A beautiful spot for biking on the rail trail, having a picnic or setting up at the beach. There are plenty picnic tables and shady spots. The water definitely helps cool you off.

Unless your in a speed boat lake is useless no beach just some sharp rocks definitely not a weekend spot maybe during the week?

Front gate staff were AWESOME! Extremely helpful. I was looking for shore fishing opportunities but didn't really find what i was looking for in that respect. But a very well kept and staffed park.

We have a membership with the GRCA, the Belwood quarry is a quaint and beautiful place for a swim on your own or with a family with children of all ages. Our 2 year old loves splashing around in the fenced shallow area, our 7 year old enjoys both the shallow and deep areas and I love that I can enjoy all of it with my kids or on my own.
It's also fantastic that there is the Elora Cataract Trail that runs from Fergus to the the Belwood Conservation Area. It makes for a fun family day trip.

Awesome place to take in the grand river, snap a couple photos and if you're biking - using the Elora trail to get in some good cardio and even more sights to see.

We were at the swimming hole for the first time. Beach was groomed and clean, water was clear and a nice temp. Great for small kids, with places to jump off the rocks for the big kids.

So beautiful place, much better and clean than famous beaches around the area. Trail for walking and cycling. Fishing is allowed as well. Marvelous view at dam. Boating is one of the best option at place.

This is definitely an OK conservation area. Given how few there are nearby with swimming areas /beaches. Washroom facilities are run down and poorly maintained (mainly a visitor problem - not sure if they are staffed for the crowds).

The sand was free of trash and the water was clean and clear when we went there but there are signs everywhere warning of potential contamination.

There are a lot of shaded areas here if needed and little rock walls to jump off which is great!

Great place with a trout pond that is especially for kids (13 and under). The park staff add trout in for a better fishing experience for the kiddos. Lovely areas with charcoal bbq pits.

Payed for the yearly membership this year as well as boat launch permit. Over $230 after taxes. Brought my son up this evening to fish and park was closed for capacity. I thought great because I payed good money for membership but was refused access even as truck and boat trailers were rolling out constantly. I will not be renewing my membership. I like to support them but for that kind of money I can pay per launch when I go and have a few dollars for gas.

Ramp needs to be monitored by park staff for in/out and could use bigger signage so everyone knows. Be careful with kids as there's a lot going on at boat launch area.

Belwood Lake Conservation Area is a bit of a hidden gem not too far from Toronto. $7.50 for an adult day pass, with lots of parking.but you can enjoy the lake, the scenery, trails, camping, picnics, and fishing.we went early and there were lot of people enjoying the outdoors. The dam is pretty interesting as there are some great views from the dam and locations for good photos. People are hiking, biking walking the steps of the dam, fishing and really enjoying themselves. Found all the people to be very friendly here as well. You can apparently launch your own boat and enjoy the lake.we saw kayaks, small and big boats, some guys were on pontoons fishing. Very large area and plan to spend a whole day here. The only draw back for me was that with covid restrictions everywhere, the area was very busy with people.

We go here often, especially in the summer! Love the little park for my wee man, fishing off the bridge in belwood. Lots of space to launch the boat. We are definitely visiting the beach this summer too.

Great place for a picnic, walk or riding a bike.
The park is clean and I always have an enjoyable day at the conservation area

Wow what a beauty!
There's something for everyone and then some. After spending a full day with the family still had so much left to explore.
Since we didn't have a boat or a jet ski, the right turn after the entrance, which led to the boat launch area didn't mean too much to us. The left is where the heart is. Literally. I've left mine after taking a left turn past the entrance.
Once there you can park at the first location that takes you to the dam, and daymmmm. What a beauty! Honestly I'm at a loss of words. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Stroll your heart out here and then if you're feeling adventurous climb down the stairs that lead you to the bottom of the dam. Mind you the climb back up is onerous, to say the least. Not for the faint hearted or fickle thighed. Especially something to be considerate about if you're carrying little kids. If you come in through the paid entrance side, which is what/where I'm describing, you're gonna hit the dam on the side where people like to fish. I was told there's a lot more trails at the bottom of the dam on the other side (close to the entrance from second line/road), for those inclined towards such things (and still have the physical capacity remaining after everything else).
But we didn't park at the first location described above, just as you're approaching there, there's a inconspicuous looking offbeat track that goes left, take it and get to the end of that sneaky thing, taking a right at the fork that otherwise goes towards a barn. That friends, is where we set up shop. A silent hidden gem of a spot. Didn't expect to find the spring fed quarry that was almost like a private beach, with surprisingly few people about. Imagine a moss greenish turquoise cul de sac for the discerning parker (i.e. Someone who doesn't park their car at the first available spot). We had the mother of all picnics there. Kids had a while bunch of fun. Are and explored to our hearts content. Later, we were left contemplating getting back to the park again the next day since despite the body reaching it's limit, the eyes and the heart craved to see everything again. However once we reached home late night (in GTA) and hit the sack, we slept blissfully through the entire next day. Belwood you beauty, we shall meet again!

Great, small, beautiful conservation area. Some camp and picnic sites. There is s small "lake" at the far end of the campground with a beach and a playground for kids. Due to COVID (as of Oct 2020) the changerooms and most bathrooms are closed. There is a bathroom open near the boat launch on the other side of the dam on the larger lake. The Dam is awesome to see. There is fishing here as well.

Nice place. If you’re here to fishing, go elsewhere. Not a single bite fishing from the shore. Boo!

Nice little place to enjoy some watersports, but there are a ton of boats on this lake all the time so it can get pretty polluted.

Great place for a day at the beach. Kids loved to see the dam and it wasn't too crowded. Highly recommended.

Great day of snow shoeing there today. Trails are very scenic and serene. Lots of choices to choose from.

This is a great area for a day trip or cycling on one of the many trails. The Grand River Conversation area is a wonderful place to take the family for a picnic or a day of fishing The Grand River itself is a great place to go fly fishing.

Beautiful place, but fishing sucks, went there for a tournament this may, I didn't catch nothing, there must been 30 boats, 27 inch pike won, that tells you, but the tournament it self, was organized amazing,

It would earn 5 stars if motorboats and other gas guzzling vehicles were not allowed. Hard to canoe and enjoy the beautiful view and birdlife when the waves created by motorboats and jets make preventing the canoe tipping the priority.

Thankfully there are still a few conservation areas that are put of the way and people do not frequent. Lovely spot to go for a long walk.

Love it, if you cant swim I would advise a lifejacket as the rocks drop off once you leave the shallow swim area.

Worse place for picnic, the "beach area" was really dirty and small, hiking trails were not even cleaned up. Waste of money

Great day of fishing, but too many bad boaters on main lake, the OPP should do more visits and crack down on some of the bad behavior

Excellent place to visit with your family for the day at a fair price. Lots of space for large families or smaller areas for 1 person to relax under the trees, bbq, swim at a tiny beach with playground next to it, see the dam and dog friendly. The gate lady explained things very well in detail and ended up staying for the day. This place can accommodate every size family for the day or longer but good to come early to reserve the best spots, there was one site with a sandy beach access, could be more of them but saw one and wouldn’t mind getting that spot next time. Some areas on and off the site have taps for drinking/running water, plenty of male/female bathrooms around. Well maintained, feels safe with employees driving around regularly. Spacious motor boat launches and ample parking for the boat trailer with space to turn around comfortably when launching boat or parking boat trailer. City is minutes away for banking shopping liquor dollar store Canadian Tire restaurants gas etc
Tip: bring charcoal and bbq supplies, stuff for beach and fishing pole to fish near the dam or boat launch.

Worse place for picnic, the "beach area" was really dirty and small, hiking trails were not even cleaned up. Ignorant, arrogant staff. Waste of time and money.

We love the lake and are here often. Girls at the admitting desk are great, but a new process should be put in place for getting the weekend line-ups through quicker.

Beautiful place to boat/fish. All the staff we spoke to were nice and the woman at the gate helped us a lot and explained very clearly how the boat launch worked and how to get there.

I can’t hold it against it the park because it’s really the OPP and MNR’s responsibility, but the other boaters in the lake are irresponsible and seemingly oblivious to others around them. Not the other fishing boats, more of the “weekend warrior” types with the jet skis and large fibreglass boats towing tubes, waterskiing, etc. Mostly getting on plane while still in the “no wake zone” and passing very closely creating hazardous situations for others.

The entrance to the launch is also a mess because no one can read signs or wait their turn.

Disappointing to see this behaviour from people and if you’re nervous about launching your boat, don’t even consider coming here on the weekend.

Need to limit the amount of boats when the water is that low.poor cottagers have no escape form the hordes.

Did bbq with charcoal, it has specific disposal pits for charcoal. There is a Beach area, Water is not the cleanest. But nice place to boat around or go for one or two dips. Scenery is really beautiful. Lake through trees look amazing.

A great place to go sailing, walking, with limited nature to view as well. Easy to have a good time.