kelso conservation area

Recently Visited Glen Eden Ski area @ Kelso. The skiing (for a small ski area) was great. Unfortunately the facilities are very badly managed. The pricing structure is confusing and misleading. When we visited, their web prices did not match price list at ticket office. We paid almost double the price listed on the web site. The staff is not rude but they are not knowledgeable, friendly or very helpful. If you do decide to visit. Call ahead to get pricing, hours,etc. Do not trust the web site. Bring food. Food and drink is overpriced and scarce. The only food we were able to find were $5.00 hot dogs. It's too bad. With a good management team at the helm, this would be a five star ski area. The natural features are beautiful. The night we visited the ski conditions were perfect. Badly managed. Lots of potential

We visited this beach for a couple of hours along with our friends and really liked the place. I had read on the reviews that the place is very crowded, however the day we visited it was not crowded at all. We were the only ones on the beach and felt like we owned that place. There are several picnic benches and spots to rest. After going around for a while, we sat on one of benches and had our lunch which we had packed from home. We chose a spot on the hill and with the cool breeze and nice hot lunch, felt like we were drifting into another world altogether.

This place used to be not as crowded, but now it is filled in the summer. There are always giant families, lots of little kids running around, and no space to sit on the beach or claim a patch of sand with a towel. The lake is man made, so you can swim in it, fish, rent a kayak, or try to find room on the beach and relax. Admission is $6.50 for adults and that covers the admission to other conservation parks in the area as well, if you want to leave and check out other places.

Lots of activities in each extreme weather conditions . as in summer lots of activities like kayaking,BBQ,open areas and in winter skying and tubing fun for kids and adults

If you are looking for a gravelly beach filled with obnoxious people smoking cigarettes and blaring music, this might be the place for you. Canoe rentals are pricey, and the whole time you are paddling around the lake all you can hear is the sound of traffic on the 401, which is literally right beside Kelso. The hiking trails are nice once you are on them, but to get there you have to walk past a kilometre of ramshackle ski slope maintenance equipment. On a positive note we found the boat rental staff exceptionally friendly and helpful. However, we won't be back. There are nicer conservation areas in the region of Halton.

My friends and I planned a picnic there in August. There were plenty of tables surrounded by trees and greenery. After eating, we chose to rent a canoe. It was so much fun! The next time, we'll go hiking on the trails.

As a last horray before kids go back to school, my family along with four other families/friends and thier kids decided to try out Kelso park. With 12 adults and 15 kids all under age 9 we were assigned two campsites.The camp sites was situated in two large open areas a short 2 min drive from the main entrance. A one-way street winds its way around the various campsites. We were lucky to have a clean comfort station (showers with hot water and washroom facilities) within a short 3 min walk. Additonally, we had other washroom facilities within a minute drive or short 4 min walk. By chance we also happened to have a freshwater tap close by which came in handy to fill our water bottles or wash hands and dishes.For novice campers this may be a great place to start and in our opinion here is why we think so. The park area is close by to Milton were local stores and services are easily accessible if there is a necessary need. Accessible to the highway too and Kelso area has a decent beach (see other TripAdvisor comments which we found were rather accurate) and picnic area.The not so great:1) Our campsite was very oddly/poorly "designed" or assigned. We had a campsite (#103) directly adjacent to ours and was occupied by another large family. This was really awkward as they had to walk/drive through our site to get to thiers. With many little children running around at various times of the day, we had to always be extra vigilant and on the look out that the cars (who were driving a little too fast in that enclosed area) would go by without any incidents. Other campsites in the vicinity were truly close by too, separate by a very thin row of trees.2) Although camping out in nature, throughout the night you could hear cars/trucks off Hwy 401. Additionally on a Friday night, numerous trains were running very closely somewhere behind us. It was rather loud and jarring when you expect to hear peace and quiet and perhaps some nature sounds. With lots of people around too, music and lots of noise was rather common, but expected somehow because of the long weekend.Another thing we found odd (but not necessarily a bad thing) there really was a lack of the usual raccoons and such nature.3) After 11pm at night, the noise level is actually monitored by Park Rangers-well for us it was anyways! A camp ranger truck actually stealtily hid itself off the main road apparently monitoring the "noise". Sadly, the ranger approached us and "threatned" to fine us with a $150 fee if she had to come back again to our site. What she failed to realize or believe was that our party of adults were actually very quiet and being extra consciuous about the noise level considering we had our kids all asleep in our tents set up close around our campfire.Additonally, we heard the other campsites being really loud and obnoxious and somehow the ranger chose to "puff up" and approach our friend who had booked the campsite and give her the "talk". We all though this was completely out of line and left a rather sour taste to our experience. All in all though, the kids had fun and so did the adults. With all the families/friends being toghether we made the most of our time and laughed off many little annoyances. In the end, we did enjoy ourselfs and will be back to Kelso for just a day trip to have a picnic and time at the beach but not for camping.

My wife and I spent the day here today and I signed up to write this review specifically.Here were our issues:-Appears to be a manmade lake with absolutely revolting water.(shallow,slimy). I swim in almost any water, and would not swim here.-small sections cordoned off for swimming(no space to swim anyways)-we were told we couldnt sit in an area on the beach that was empty because it was reserved for a camp that never showed up. Pathetic.- tonnes of kids. Very loud and not relaxing for adults who want some peace.-Awful sand. Hard, mixed with gravel/limestone screening. Forget it.-washrooms filthy/stink.-Some trashy/low class people (this could be anywhere, so take that with a grain of salt)We wanted a refund within the first 15 minutes. This place feels like a commercial park for rippingpeople off.

Nice beach, very steep hill to get to the beach, or you can take a long staircase down. If you are into mountain biking, it offers very good biking trails, one of the main reasons I go here. The lake is a fairly good size so you can do some kayaking or canoeing as well. The beach gets a little crowded during the warm summer months, but that's a given for any beach. Just plan ahead and go early to get a good spot. Pretty safe with lifeguards. A little shop selling food. The boardwalk is a nice walk that takes you to the boat/kayak rentals. Lots of people fishing. Nice retreat from Toronto. Very close by.TIP: Bring a Wagon or any type of cart to transport your stuff from vehicle to beach (you will need it)

We used to go there for skiing in the winter and have never learned about the beach until last week. We went over the weekend, paid for the entrance (actually, family pass may be more valuable when my lil' ones would enjoy the nature more) and found parking. Quite a bit of ppl but not too packed. The beach is clean. They put wires to avoid birds flying close by, which helps. They have a snack bar to sell hotdogs, burgers, fries, regular stuff. Washroom is right next to it, which is quite convenient. However, when you are back up to the parking lot/visitor's centre area, you will need to wait for the dirty washroom. It fits only 1 ppl and so you could imagine. Otherwise, it's good and we would go back.

Kelso is a nice, affordable little place if you just need a day at a local, family friendly beach. It's clean & serene and although it may fill up quickly, is relatively well suited to large crowds. Will definitely try to visit more frequently in the future.

This was my second trip to Kelso. It was fun, lake is good for swimming, one can rent boats. There are two Volleyball courts. Do not forget to bring in your own BBQ.

Kelso is a great place for families all year round. Our kids snow board there inn the winter and we have spend many spring and fall days hiking around the park. The view in the fall is beautiful. The beach is average but when you just need to get a beach quickly it will suffice. At least they keep it clean.

our family went to kelso for the fall colours. A bit expensive to get in I thought. $17 for the car load. We then had to pay for an all day ride pass for the chair lift. A small price. The chair lift ride was awesome. The kids loved it. One 4, one 6. I had no problem taking them up myself. Once we got up theres were beautiful views and great paths to walk along. At the bottom they had a BBQ with hotdogs and hamburgers. They had people playing drums, face painting and pumpkin painting. Hay bails for the kids to play on. We had a great time and would go back for sure.

we love this park! Beautiful scenary, crystal clear lake, kids face painting and pumpkin decorating, hay play, chairlift rides... only if the maps and the trail signs are more clear and the entrance guy would be more enthusiastic to give us a brief intro of where about. But thats ok, the free warm apple cider just warm everypne up and so decilicious!