Photo: Parks Canada / Scott Munn / 2014

This area offers two kinds of beautiful scenery: open skies with grasses and shrubs, and the enclosed greenery of the forest. A popular place for both people and animals, Finn Hill is busy in every season!

Spring

Spring is a time of awakening. As the snow melts, seeds in the ground begin to sprout and baby animals are born. The sounds of frogs and chirping birds and the fragrance of fresh blossoms fill the air. When this area was farmed, spring was a time for people to plant their crops. The apple trees planted here years ago are still alive and bearing fruit today.

Summer

In the summer, the hill is buzzing with activity! Watch the bees zoom around the flowers as they search for nectar. You can see many people enjoying the trails in the warm weather as they walk, run, and ride bicycles. If you stand still among the trees, you will hear the birds, bees, and squirrels make noise as they enjoy the sunny days, too! How many animal sounds can you name?

Fall

Look at the hill in the fall to see a rainbow of beautiful colours! With colder weather and shorter days, chlorophyll in the leaves of many trees disappears, changing the colour from green to reds, oranges, yellows and browns. Animals also get ready for winter in many different ways. Squirrels prepare for winter by storing nuts and acorns for food. Bears find good places to curl up and hibernate during the coldest months. The Canada goose migrates to warmer places. The farmers of Finn Hill would have prepared for winter too, by harvesting and preserving the fruits and vegetables they planted months earlier.

Winter

Huff, huff – can you see your breath in the air? It’s a lot of work climbing Finn Hill in the winter, but if you bring a toboggan, you’re in for a speedy ride! It might look like the hill is empty, but if you look closely, you might find the tracks of birds and animals scurrying through the snow.

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