Borer’s Falls #071007

Alternative Names: Rock Chapel Falls

Creek: Borer’s Creek

Classification: Ribbon

Height: 15 metres/49 feet

Width: 5 metres/17 feet

Access Information from Rock Chapel (Top):

(i) Time - 10 minutes

(ii) Distance - 500 meters

(iii) Accessibility - Top= Easy. Bottom=Difficult.

Ownership: Royal Botanical Gardens

Property: Rock Chapel Sanctuary

Flow of Water: Seasonal

Facilities: Onsite - 20 parking spaces, trails, interpretive signs. Nearby - Gas stations, restaurants, motels, retail and convenience stores.

Other Nearby Attractions: Borer’s Falls Conservation Area, Webster’s Falls/Spencer Gorge Conservation Area, Royal Botanical Gardens, Cootes Paradise.

Directions from Hwy 403: Exit at Hwy 6 North. Travel on Hwy 6 North for 3 km and turn left on Hwy 5. Travel on Hwy 5 for about 2 km until you see Rock Chapel Rd. on your left. Turn left, travel to the mountain brow and look for Rock Chapel parking lot. Borer’s Falls is under the bridge on Rock Chapel Road. Follow the trail back 500 meters to the lookout.

Hiking: Borer's Falls can be accessed from the Bruce Trail. Hikers can park at the Rock Chapel Sanctuary, where you can easily access the Bruce Trail and follow it to the north as is winds its way to the top of the escarpment. It can also be accessed from the Borer's Falls Conservation Area by taking the Armstrong side trail of the Bruce Trail. Parking and access is from York Road. The trail follows Borer's Creek and then heads up the escarpment.

Cultural History: This classical, 15-metre waterfall, also known as Rock Chapel Falls, can be accessed from both the Hamilton Conservation Authority's Borer's Falls Conservation Area and the Royal Botanical Garden's Rock Chapel Sanctuary. This waterfall powered the Rock Chapel village sawmill which was run by the Borer family for more than 100 years. Land clearing in the area eventually altered the creek's flow to such a degree that it could no longer provide sufficient energy, so the family switched to steam to power the mill.

Borer's Falls Conservation Area features informal trails and a wide variety of plants and animals, including large stands of lilacs. The Borer's Creek bridge offers a stunning view of the gorge.

THE SITE: From the parking lot you will see an informal trail heading north back to the bridge across Borer’s Creek. Looking to the right you will find yourself just above the crest of Borer’s Falls giving you a good view of the area that runs down into the conservation area and out to the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG). The energy of the water falling over the escarpment at this point was used by the Borer family to run a sawmill for over a century. This mill was the lifeblood of the village of Rock Chapel. However land clearing by the early 1900s altered the water flow of the creek to such an extent that the mill was forced to convert to steam power. It seems obvious that a much larger volume of water once flowed over this falls in order to carve out such a large gorge.

Trail:East

After crossing Borer’s Creek over the bridge, the trail follows along the edge of the gorge to your right. You will soon reach a viewing area between two stone pillars that gives an excellent view of the Falls. This white-blazed main trail continues along the escarpment edge affording numerous lookout points. Where the trail curves around the escarpment you will find a welcome bench for a rest or to enjoy the view. Looking towards the field on your left, a kestrel nesting box can be seen in a cultivated field. As you continue along the trail, Cootes Paradise and the City of Hamilton come into view from lookout points. Soon the trail makes a sharp turn right and descends down the steep escarpment. The descent is so steep that a plastic garden hose was strung along to aid you -but it has gone missing. Fortunately we do not go down this slope but turn back and take an alternate unmarked path along the edge of the cultivated fields. This path rejoins the main trail and takes you back to the parking lot.

Trail:West

From the parking lot head south along the trails through a regeneration field keeping away from the tree line and to your right. Eventually the trail does curve into the tree line and meets the main Bruce Trail. Turn left onto the trail and walk through the maple and oak forest. Look left to examine the maple sugar shack that supposedly contains an impressive display of the syrup making process. However, I have never seen this open. It is reported in some current Toronto hiking books that each year in March when the sap begins to run with warmer sunny days and cool evenings, the staff of the RBG taps a number of trees in this sugar bush. A tasty pancake and maple sugar breakfast is served here each Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 3 pm. However a few locals have told me that this has not been done for years and years and there was no evidence of such a breakfast on a very warm sunny day after a long cold winter (March 16 ,2003). Across from the sugar shack is another fine area to view the City of Hamilton and the Burlington Skyway. Leave this wooden viewing platform and turn right following the main trail again. Soon you will come to the Armstrong Side Trail on your right. Keep to the right on this trail and ignore the paths leading in other directions. The trail leads to an impressive geology display that allows you to get a close view of the different layers (strata) that make up the escarpment. Display boards explain how each layer was created by ancient seas and glacier action. Climb up the metal stairs to the top of the display and follow the blue blazes back to the main trail. Walk past the sugar shack again and continue back to the parking lot.

Another one of the many waterfalls in the greater Hamilton area, this waterfall is a little smaller, though no less pretty than its neighbours. Falling about 16 m, the waterfall is a true plunge waterfall, with water not contacting the bedrock until it reaches the base of the falls. This is a great place to observe the layered nature of sedimentary rocks. Each layer represents a period of deposition during the Odrovician and Silurian periods, both occurring about 450 million years ago.

The waterfall is not visible from the parking lot. You will need to backtrack along the road to the sharp turn to the right. This takes 5 minutes at most, but be sure to watch for cars coming around the blind corner. For the best overall view of the waterfall, continue around the curve to the far side of the river, and follow the little trail along the left side (when looking downstream) of the river. This short trail takes you to a break in the vegetation for a good view of the falls.

For the more adventurous, who aren't afraid to get a little dirty, walk back to the road, go back around the curve, and try to find a weak path through the woods to the edge of the gorge. BE CAREFUL HERE! PLEASE! The cliffs are steep! There is a spot along this side of the gorge where people have lowered themselves over a short exposure of the bedrock and on to a huge boulder pile. There may still be some yellow ropes that people have used for access. The "cliff" is only about 1-2 m high, and if you are careful, you can use the jagged rock edges and tree roots to lower yourself on to the boulder pile. From here, scramble down the talus slope to the base of the falls. Provided there is a fairly good flow in the river, you should be able to walk behind the falls.

You can also access the lower gorge by taking the walking trail from the parking lot into the conservation area, and then following a trail to the base of the escarpment. You will need to walk through the woods (there may or may not be a trail - I couldn't find one) until you get to the river, and then walk upstream to the base of the falls. This route took me about 45 minutes, and you can expect lots of short steep hills, fallen logs and large boulders. The scenery down here is pretty, but the hiking is really "messy". There are a few small secluded cascades along the river located a few hundred metres downstream from the falls.