City of Hamilton

Webster Falls, Ontario

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

The City of Hamilton is a spectacular place to find waterfalls. The Niagara Escarpment runs directly through the city. When we visited in July 2019, we weren’t in Hamilton for very long, but were still able to see a number of falls.

Webster Falls and Tews Falls are both within the same park and within the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area. There are two separate parking areas for the falls, though I think you can hike between them. Webster Falls isn’t one of my favorite falls in the area. There may be some designated viewing areas, but it’s really difficult to get a good view of the full falls, which are about 22 meters/72 feet tall. There is a lot of vegetation right in front of the path, pretty much the whole path. I have photos where I tried to capture the whole drop, but it’s even more so blocked by trees. It’s a pretty area to walk around, but if I had to choose certain falls, I would skip this one and instead visit other falls that I could get better views of.

There is a fee to enter the park and also to park the car. In 2019, there weren’t any reservations required, but in 2022, there are times where reservations are required. The Conservation Hamilton website provides the fees and the dates that reservations are required. Sometimes it is only weekends and holidays, but in the fall, it seems like it may be everyday. The reservation is an additional fee. That gets you in to see both falls.

Directions:

  1. There are a number of different paths you could take to get to the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area and Webster Falls. I would suggest having the map on your car/smartphone direct you to Webster Falls.
  2. As mentioned above, there are separate parking areas for Tews Falls and Webster Falls. Webster Falls is found off of Fallsview Road.

Accessibility: 10/10 (easy)
Height: 72′
Distance of Hike: 0.1 miles round trip

Webster Falls in July 2019

Where in the World is Webster Falls?

Advertisement

Sherman Falls, Ontario

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

An interesting geological feature, the Niagara Escarpment, runs through Ontario and a number of the great lakes states. There are different types of rock that lead to different erosion rates. This produces some prime waterfall possibilities in New York, Ontario, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Niagara Falls is the clearest product of the escarpment. The escarpment also passes through Hamilton, which leads to a significant number of waterfalls in the city and nearby.

Sherman Falls is one of those waterfalls. It is not far from Tiffany Falls, which is where we started and then hiked to Sherman Falls. I believe there is another parking area. The Hamilton Tourism website mentions that it is off of Artaban Road. Artaban Road appears to be off of Lions Club Road (to the north) and just west of Old Dundas Road. The roads are rather curvy and winding, so you may have to pay attention carefully. Both the parking at Artaban Road and Tiffany Falls come with a fee. Tiffany Falls is $11. I’m not sure what the other parking costs.

It is actually a rather enjoyable hike from Tiffany Falls along the Bruce Trail, so if you’re stopping there, I think you might as well enjoy the hike between the two falls. They say that there’s 1 hour parking at Tiffany Falls, so I would try to respect that, but I think you might be able to fit both falls in an hour. There is another waterfall along the hike, though I didn’t notice (or didn’t look because I wasn’t aware). The falls is referred to as Old Dundas Road Falls. It’s on private property, but you’re supposed to be able to see it by looking south while walking on the Bruce Trail.

There are also other waterfalls nearby that we didn’t visit due to time constraints. Canterbury and Little Canterbury Falls are further west along the Bruce Trail. Sister of Mary Falls, Mill Falls, and Lower Mill Falls are south of the trail. Before you head out, I would suggest checking to see whether the falls and parking are open and available. Covid-19 limited access to many of the waterfalls, but that seems to be less restricted now.

Directions:

  1. I’m providing directions to Tiffany Falls. Then you can hike from there to Sherman Falls. There are multiple different ways to arrive at the Tiffany Falls parking area. I was headed east from London, Ontario, so we were on ON-403 E. If you’re on ON-403 E, take exit 58 which will take you to Wilson Street.
  2. Turn left on Wilson Street W and head northeast on Wilson Street W, which will turn into Wilson Street E. The address for the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area is 900 Wilson Street E.
  3. The parking area will be to your right if you are headed northeast. There is a day fee to park there, and parking may be limited on the weekends.
  4. From there, you can follow the trail to Tiffany Falls or cross the street and follow the Bruce Trail to Sherman Falls. It will head downhill for a bit, and then you turn left (head west) on the Bruce Trail.
  5. You’ll come to a spot where the Bruce Trail crosses Old Dundas Road. I remember there being a sign indicating where to go to get to Sherman Falls.

Accessibility: 8/10 (easy)
Height: 56′
Length of Hike: 0.6 miles round-trip

Where in the World is Tiffany Falls?

Tiffany Falls, Ontario

/ waterfallrecord / Leave a comment

Tiffany Falls Ontario (77)

Tiffany Falls in late July 2019

I had the chance this past weekend to finally visit some waterfalls in Hamilton, Ontario. It is reported that there are over 100 waterfalls in the city/region. I am recovering from some surgery, so I decided to find waterfalls that seemed to be easier hikes, just in case anything happened.

I started with Tiffany Falls because I had seen some photos that indicated that the falls were flowing. In the summer months, it isn’t always a guaranteed thing that a waterfall will be flowing, even in places that have a lot of water. I was definitely in luck because there was water flowing over the four falls I visited in the area. I visited the falls on a Sunday, and parking was at a premium. Based on visits to Tews Falls and Webster Falls on weekdays, weekday parking isn’t as much of an issue.

The hike to Tiffany Falls isn’t particularly difficult, and is a quarter of a mile from the parking area. In addition to Tiffany Falls, from Tiffany Falls, you can hike about 0.6 miles one-way to Sherman Falls, which again wasn’t a wildly difficult hike, though it did involve some stairs. Canterbury Falls is further along the trail, though I didn’t visit that waterfall.

Directions:

  1. There are multiple different ways to arrive at the falls. I was headed east from London, Ontario, so we were on ON-403 E. If you’re on ON-403 E, take exit 58 which will take you to Wilson Street.
  2. Turn left on Wilson Street W and head northeast on Wilson Street W, which will turn into Wilson Street E. The address for the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area is 900 Wilson Street E.
  3. The parking area will be to your right if you are headed northeast. There is a day fee to park there, and parking may be limited on the weekends.
  4. From there, you can follow the trail to Tiffany Falls or cross the street and follow the Bruce Trail to Sherman Falls.

Accessibility: 9/10 (easy)
Height: 69′
Length of Hike: 0.5 miles round-trip

Where in the World is Tiffany Falls?