escarpment

This post is part of the series inspired by an amazing resource: Hiking The GTA.

Just west of an unassuming urban sprawl sleepy suburb city of Brampton lies rural wilderness of Halton Hills. You don’t have to venture too far out from the accustomed urbanness, a mere 6km from public transit, gets you to the famously erosion-resistant Niagara Escarpment and a very special waterfalls tumbling over it in style.

In an earlier article, I invite you to visit a more urban natural waterfall, should you require more accessibility.

The stream that creates it is called Rogers Creek. If the Internet community ever names this falls, it refers to the destination as Terra Cotta Falls. The toponym is by no means official. The fact that the waterfall is beyond the borders of the so named conservation area further complicates the situation. I believe that the proud owner of this widget of ecotourism is the Region of Peel’s School Board. Yes, the same school board from the shores of Caledon Lake.

The Waterfall is allegedly accessible via the Bruce Trail. However, I decided against the meandering roundabout ( and especially unnecessarily up and down) ways of the trail architects for a direct cut through the woods. Most of the way, the forest is no unlike any other. Sometimes, however, ~~witching~~ interesting improvements will surely stumble onto you.

Following Rogers Creek towards the falls is as challenging as dealing with the Rogers Company as a customer. However, fellow humans built crude versions of inuksuks to confirm the correct path.

Ultimately, you reach the falls. The creek falls over in separate ribbon formations over the harder top layer. Layers beneath are quite undercut, allowing me to enjoy the spectacle from behind the veil. Water is also taking shortcuts through the cavern’s roof and seeps spontaneously from the sides of the bowl creating a lush, almost tropical atmosphere.

There was no one else there, creating a secluded swimming experience though the decently deep plunge pool and the pleasant natural shower of the falls itself. To improve the experience, I would advise clearing the pieces of shale and dolomite from the bottom.

I also stumbled on a smashed beer bottle there that thankfully did not injure me. Don’t do this, seriously bad joojoo will come your way. Be better than Brock U students!

Of course, I will visit this falls again and again through different seasons. It surpassed my expectations, while still being quite local, relatively accessible and around other destinations on my radar.

See you at the Terra Cotta Falls, thanks for reading and happy destinations.

Contributor: H h h h h oime

Bonus Vids 🙂

PS: Free Camping on location

Nothing says ‘a late autumn snowy day destination’ like a scenic quarry bridge through the escarpment. The only problem was that this time of year, the sun sets both quickly and soon. It was pitch dark by 5:30. The hills of the escarpment offered a chance to see the sunset twice, once from down below and the second time while on top, which was nice, take that Goderich, ON :).

It seems like the bridge was built to compensate for a giant gap in the escarpment caused by the quarry development. It was in operation that evening, creating a helpful hum of reference (that probably gives autism to the local wildlife) while I was stumbling out of the destination in the night time.

The light pollution is less of a problem here, thus you will be able to see a selection of constellations above. A reminder is to also mind what is below your feet, as the trail gets at times dangerously close to the drop, falling over which will hurt or at least kill.

From the top, I saw the glimmering lights of Milton, Brampton, Mississauga and the urban skyline of downtown Toronto. From the west, you see the hill that overshadows Lake Kelso and the 401, including the light posts of the road that crosses its eastern slope. If someone manages to see the rest of the stuff that is normally seen with the help of the sun, please share it somewhere online for us.

Below is a lighted canyon. The trucks serving the quarry operation and the loitering deer appear pretty toy-like. The area is well-fenced and safe for the boisterous, young, or drunk. The trail on both sides is quite treacherous, often negligently so, but that is getting into the journey territory, outside the scope of the report and the website.

I will venture out to suggest that you start from the NS roads on either way of the destination and follow the Bruce Trail that tracks the ridge of the escarpment. The place is relatively hard to reach and I felt pranked by some of the advice that I collected before heading out there. I will say no more on this. Let this not serve as a precedent for journey advice here. The destination is exactly at: https://goo.gl/maps/3kLKW

The night was crisp and clear, allowing for pristine, reaching views. My camera was giving me problems, so I resorted to my cell phone to take the shots. This did not translate the experience fully or clearly. You should choose a nice clear day or night to go there. Be aware of the military grade mosquitoes, I’ve encountered in the area before and of the nice scenic picnic area, down the path, on the NE corner of the destination. It also features some informative plaques for your pleasure.

Thanks for visiting and lots of love,

Admin- Bowsyre