Hike #21: Scenic Drive, Hamilton to Artaban Road, Ancaster

December 26, 2021

Hike #21 Scenic Drive, Hamilton to Artaban Parking Lot, Ancaster

We started our hike today at Scenic Drive on Hamilton Mountain. There is limited street parking. Scenic Drive is also the terminus for the Chedoke Radial Trail (closed in winter months). We parked our second car on Artaban Road (paid parking) in Ancaster. Artaban Parking Lot is also the suggested parking to view Sherman Falls. There were no facilities at either location.

Unnamed falls we encountered at Iroquoia Heights

The Iroquoia Heights side trail makes a straight line from the trail head at Scenic Drive to the pedestrian bridge that crosses the 403 at the top of the escarpment betwixt Hamilton and Ancaster. The Bruce Trail however, turns to the right (north) to follow the edge of the escarpment.

Headwaters of unnamed falls at Iroquoia Heights.
This natural wall carved out of escarpment limestone helps to direct the river to the head of the falls.

View from top of unnamed falls at Iroquoia Heights

Much of this section of the Bruce Trail follows the contours of the edge of the escarpment, which is cut by several valleys. The trail eventually turns south away from the escarpment to enter meadows interspersed with some brush and a small marsh. The trial eventually intersects with the Iroquoia Heights side trail at the base of a pedestrian bridge that spans the 403 highway.

Bridge over troubled marsh waters.

View westwards of the eastern side of the pedestrian bridge that crosses highway 403 between Hamilton & Ancaster.

Pedestrian Bridge over the 403

View Northbound of 403 from the Pedestrian Bridge

Staircase down from the pedestrian bridge

View southwards of the path that parallels the Mohawk Rd off ramp (403 west).

Grafiti

There is very limited roadside parking on Filman Road with space for about 3 cars only. This is where the Bruce Trail turns right (north) to follow Filman Rd for a spell. It is very easy to miss this turn!

Parking at end of Filman Road (S) where the Bruce Trail reenters the woods to carry on to Tiffany Falls.

Stairs down ravine at end of Filman Rd (S) where Bruce Trail reenters the woods.

Fork in the trail.
Bruce Trail continues to the left. Filman Rd (N) side trail to the right.

One of several creeks encountered along the Bruce Trail between Filman Rd and Tiffany Falls.

Descent down the escarpment.
Lots of limestone walls to see in this section.

Crossing at Wilson St. (east side)

View of Bruce Trail alongside Wilson Street (west side)

We took the Tiffany Falls Side Trail (about a kilometre in and out detour from the Bruce). It is well worth the effort!

Steps up from Bruce Trail on east side of Wilson St. (Ancaster) to parking lot at base of Tiffany Falls side trail.

Tiffany Falls parking lot is one of the suggested parking lots along the Bruce Trail; however, it is often jam packed with people viewing the falls and there is a 2 hour time limit. It is a paid lot.

There are two bridges crossing the winding stream fed by Tiffany Falls. Tiffany Creek was virtually dry when we were here during the summer months.

View of second bridge over Tiffany creek from first bridge

Tiffany Creek

We were rewarded by our decision to take the side trail to view Tiffany Falls in the winter as the falls were much more stunning that when we viewed them during the summer months.

Tiffany Falls on Dec 12th, 2021

I've included a picture of Tiffany Falls taken during the summer months to highlight the difference depending on the season and water levels.

Picture of Tiffany Falls taken July 23rd, 2021 for comparison

After visiting Tiffany Falls we reunited with the Bruce Trail. It runs through the woods on the western face of the escapement and for the most part parallel to Wilson St. The trail had some ups and downs.

Tiffany creek, as seen from the western side of Wilson St. on the Bruce Trial proper.

With the recent rainfall, a short stair-like section of the trail was transformed into a waterfall. This was also compounded by the high winds the day before which had downed trees and created dams that prevented runoff from taking its usual routes...

Rock stairs on the Bruce Trail that were transformed into a waterfall.

View of the crossroads at the base of Sherman Falls.

Sherman Falls is definitely the most stunning waterfall we have seen in Hamilton. There are also trails on either side of the Ancaster creek in which you can view the falls. It is a short jaunt to view these falls as you can actually see the falls from Old Dundas Road.

Sherman Falls

To get to our car on Artaban Road we only needed to travel a short distance of 300 m along Old Dundas road. Unfortunately our Bruce Trail Map indicated that the Bruce Trail ran right through the back of the parking lot so we continued along the trail for about a kilometre before realizing we needed to turn around. This was not too much of a hardship as the detour took us past Canterbury Falls. I'll include the pics of Canterbury Falls on my next blog as we will be revisiting this stretch of the trail on our next hike.