Smith Property

This 39-hectare (96-acre) site is owned and operated by the Ontario Heritage Trust. There are no facilities on site. Please stay on the trails.

The Smith Property (also known as the Anne Bartley Smith Property) is one of the Trust’s more urban natural heritage properties. Located in the southwest corner of Aurora at Bathurst Street and Bloomington Road, it represents a pocket of undeveloped land with woodlots, moraine topography and grassy fields abutting residential neighborhoods.

The property was donated to the Trust by Anne Bartley Smith in 1992. Since then, the Trust has striven to preserve the property in a natural state.

Heritage value

The Smith Property is part of the Oak Ridges Moraine. It helps serve an important function as the headwaters for more than 30 streams flowing into Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. The property contains interesting moraine topography as well as woodlots and habitats that support various flora and fauna.

The steep slope along the eastern and southern edges contains several patches of mature hardwood dominated by a mix of native species. A significant biological feature found within the property is a grove of large mature red oak on the east slope. There are also endangered butternut trees (Juglans cinerea) on site.

The Smith Property is an urban oasis that supports biodiversity and where people can experience nature within a city landscape.

Stewardship work

The Trust’s goals for the property are to protect and enhance its natural heritage values while allowing for appropriate public access and passive recreational activities, such as nature appreciation, hiking and on-leash dog walking. As with many natural heritage properties in urban settings, the Smith Property has many non-native, invasive plants, unauthorized uses (like mountain biking, dumping of garden waste) and declining tree health that degrade the natural heritage features over time. The Trust works with community partners to undertake stewardship activities to combat these issues and protect the property.

Since 2023, the Homegrown Society has been assisting the Trust with stewardship of the property by engaging youth volunteers. They have organized several events on site. The volunteer group has planted a food forest and helped remove invasive species, like common buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), from the property.  The Trust is also working with the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority to undertake exciting restoration and stewardship work to improve the ecological health of the property, enhance biodiversity and improve safety of visitors.