Rattlesnake Point is a cliff, and it is worth being clear about that, because the name suggests something more menacing. It is one of the high points on the Niagara Escarpment in Milton, Ontario, a long ridge of dolomite that curves from the Niagara River all the way up to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula. At Rattlesnake Point the rock drops away in a wall, and from the lookouts you see the farms and woodlots of the plain below, with the towers of the Greater Toronto Area on the horizon.
The escarpment is genuinely remarkable. In 1990 UNESCO named the whole length a biosphere reserve, partly because of what grows on the cliff faces: eastern white cedars, twisted and stunted by the rock, that are among the oldest trees in eastern North America, some of them more than a thousand years old. The ledges here are also where hawks and other raptors ride the autumn thermals on their way south, which makes September and October a fine time to be on top, and there is a long-standing tradition of rock climbing on the faces. The name comes from the massasauga rattlesnake, which lived in the area once and survives in only a few places in Ontario now.
The riding around it is pleasant rather than wild. The roads off Guelph Line and Appleby Line wander across rolling farmland, with fruit stands, old stone farmhouses and the odd corner where the escarpment forces a bend or a short climb. It is a very popular area for riders from Toronto, which means that on a sunny weekend you share the road with plenty of others, and so do the police; Ontario takes speeding seriously, with heavy penalties for stunt driving, so keep to the limits and you will have a calmer day.
The conservation park itself charges an entry fee and closes in the evening, so check before you go in. Milton, four kilometres away, is a big, fast-growing town with every kind of fuel station, cafe and chain restaurant you could want. Spring brings wildflowers in the woods, summer is busy, and the best colour comes in the second half of October.