Scottsdale Farm is situated north of Georgetown, on Trafalgar Road. This 531 acre heritage property is a popular hiking spot where you can see some of the oldest trees in Ontario – over 250 years old! This old-growth forest is part of Ontario’s Greenbelt.

The dominant species are Sugar Maple, Eastern White Cedar and Eastern Hemlock. It is estimated that the trees in the old-growth sugar maple forest are 150-200+ years-old.  The extensive cedar-hemlock swamp (greater than 50 hectares in size) has trees with old age characteristics at numerous points. 198 rings were counted on a hemlock log found South-west of Trafalgar Road. Counting the rigns of the tree, it is estimated that it was over 250 years old. Since ages of 250+ were obtained with little effort, and trees in the swamp have little commercial value, maximum ages could be even higher.

Scottsdale Farm once belonged to the Bennett family who farmed the land for over 40 years, raising Arabian horses and shorthorn cattle. It was gifted to the Ontario Heritage Trust by Stewart and Violet (Letty) Bennett in 1982. All the buildings are preserved by the Friends of Scottsdale Farm for the enjoyment of all.

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