Great Smokey Hollow Walk

Flamborough (Waterdown)

 

Smokey Hollow Resource Management Area, Mill Street

5.1 km linear trail (10.2 km return)

Moderate

Hard packed earth, wooden bridges, gravel

No

Not Available

From Hwy 403 take the Hwy 6 North to Hwy 5. Turn right on Hwy 5 (Dundas Street East). At the town centre, turn right onto Mill Street and proceed down the escarpment approximately 450 metres. You will find the parking area on your right just past the railway bridge.

Other Trail Information & Directions:

Make your way down the steps to the lookout over Great Falls, then head south on the access trail to the Main Bruce Trail. Continue your hike downstream along Grindstone Creek and the Bruce Trail as it weaves along the Niagara Escarpment slope. Hike from Great Falls south-west to Upper Cascade Falls and then turn back.

Make your way down the steps to the lookout over Great Falls, then head south on the access trail to the Main Bruce Trail. Continue your hike downstream along Grindstone Creek and the Bruce Trail as it weaves along the Niagara Escarpment slope. Hike from Great Falls south-west to Upper Cascade Falls and then turn back.

For more than 100 years, mills were powered by the creek as it plunged over the escarpment. It is believed a landowner, Alexander Brown, was the first to build a mill on this site, which then became the nucleus of a small industrial complex. Once the railway bypassed Waterdown and the last mill was destroyed by fire, the mill owners retired.

Along the Way:

Great Falls
Grindstone Creek
Bruce Trail
Escarpment cliffs
Grindstone Cascade
Snake and Lower Snake Falls
Upper Quarry Falls

How did Waterdown get its name?
A village grew up around the mills of Smokey Hollow, where the water of Grindstone Creek plunged down the Niagara Escarpment, thus the name Waterdown.