This is another of the many waterfalls along the Niagara Escarpment. It’s only a few minutes drive away from downtown Owen Sound, and has a very nice parking lot with restrooms and picnic tables.
The trail is well marked and easy to find to begin the hike and the falls are about a 20 – 30 minute walk along the river and through the woods but that is over simplifying the hike. There are tricky parts if you want to go down below the falls.
About 15 minutes in, which involves some tricky stepping on wet rocks and over an area that’s fairly steep and usually muddy and slippery, you will come to a staircase. After climbing the staircase, you will then have to climb up a rather steep section of trail, at which point you will be walking along the top of an escarpment.
If you want to go down to the waterfalls, at some point along the trail, and it is not well marked at all, there is a switchback that winds down the escarpment and under it until it reaches the falls, but it’s also tricky so if you take that route, proceed with caution and I suggest using a hiking pole for balance.
However, what we like to do is walk to the falls from the top first. I find it fascinating that such a shallow slow running stream creates such a beautiful waterfall. As you can see from a couple of the photos I’ve posted below, if you were kayaking down the stream, you’d have a hard time thinking there was a 50 foot waterfall directly in front of you.
The waterfall was formed by the erosion of soft Queenston shale beneath hard Manitoulin dolomite, in a manner similar to Niagara Falls.
We’ve also visited in January and February and we think that’s a spectacular time to visit.
It’s definitely worth visiting while in the area. We’ve visited with several of our friends and all have enjoyed the outing.
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