Tiffany Falls | TorontoHiking

Tiffany Falls

Tiffany Falls (Rating=A) is an imposing 19 m high steep cascade waterfall located in the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area in Hamilton. The crest of the falls is 8 m wide as Tiffany creek flows over the escarpment. Upstream about 100 m is Upper Tiffany Falls sometimes known as Washboard Falls.

THE TIFFANY FALLS AREA:

There is parking for about 10 cars in the Tiffany Falls Conservation Parking lot off Wilson St E. Tiffany Falls is named after the very well known and liked medical doctor, Oliver Tiffany, who came to the Ancaster area in 1796. As the region's first doctor, he attended to people in a wide area and served them faithfully for over 40 years.

There is water in the falls year-round although it may dry to a trickle in a warm dry summer. A smaller waterfalls is located upstream. The ravine itself is impressive with high cliffs on both sides of the falls. Ice climbing is popular her in the winter.

Tiffany Falls consists of a number of visible layers of rock. The top 5 m of the face is dolostone overtop of 5 m of grey shale which is easily eroded. Below this is another 5 m of dolostone and then the visible base of sandstone and grey shale mixture. The shale is easily eroded and allows undercutting of the more resistant dolostone above. This causes collapse of the top layer of dolostone which gives the escarpment its steep face. Red-brown stained deposits (calcium carbonate precipitates) can be observed on the surface of the exposed bedrock.

The forest area is made up of Eastern Hemlock, Sugar Maple, Red Oak, American Beech, White Ash, Basswood, Black Walnut, Hawthorn, Butternut and White Elm.

TIFFANY FALLS AREA WALKING TRAILS:

Bruce Trail, Tiffany Falls Access Trail. For a map of area trails, click on the Trail Map icon above.

At one time the walk to the falls was fairly treacherous with eroding and dangerous upper and lower trails to the falls made even worse in wet weather. All of that changed in 2007 when a new wide pathway was built by the joint efforts of The Hamilton Conservation Authority, The Bruce Trail Conservancy, the Rotary Club of Ancaster and the Trillium Foundation. Follow the trail from the Tiffany Falls parking lot into the woods to the right of the creek bed. Two new bridges and a wide gravel pathway leads you to the falls. The creek bed rounds a corner and there is front of you is the impressive and pretty cascading Tiffany Falls with a new observation platform.

After viewing the falls retrace your steps to the parking lot. To access the main Bruce trail you need to cross busy Wilson Avenue. Be careful here! Once across, take the short access trail down and go left on the main Bruce Trail. This is an interesting section of the trail with some very rocky portions. You might see a few deer in the area. The trail comes out onto Old Dundas Road. Be careful crossing this road to pick up the main Bruce Trail on the other side. Straight ahead you will see Sherman Falls. The round trip to Sherman falls and back to Tiffany falls is about 5.5 km. The trail can be rocky and undulating but is not difficult.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS ONLY:

There is a trail up the side of the gorge to the left of the falls that leads to another Tiffany Falls –the upper falls which has a height of 5 m and a crest of 6 m. This is a rather steep and dangerous trail up and the trail is usually wet so be very careful if you decide to view the upper falls. There is another way to reach the upper falls which is on Hamilton Conservation Authority lands but it involves crossing over private property.

HIKES VISITING THIS FALLS:

L09F Dundas Valley Ancaster Waterfalls

TIFFANY FALLS VIDEO: