Felkers’s Falls #070912

River Red Hill Creek (East Branch)

Class Plunge

Size Medium

Visit ability Average

Accessibility Free

Activity Moderate

Walk Time 3min

Trail Wheelchair Accessible

Gorge Access Very Difficult

For Felker's Falls, exit the QEW at Centennial Parkway and go south. Follow the road south through Stoney Creek, and up the Niagara Escarpment. Turn right on to Mud St, and then right again at Paramount Dr. Turn right on to Ackland Rd, and follow the road around the bend. Park in the lot beside the city park. Walk across the field to the wooden fence: the falls are right behind the fence.

A pretty waterfall, this one is not found at the end of a long, scenic hike. It is in fact, located right behind a subdivision in the eastern-most portion of upper Hamilton. Accessible by the Bruce Trail, and the wheelchair-accessible Peter Street Trail, this is one of the easier waterfalls to view. It is also however, one of the harder waterfalls to explore. The trip to the base of the falls (at least by setting out from the top of the falls) is very difficult, and not recommended. There may be an easier route from the north, by walking up the gorge, perhaps from Hildegard Dr.

The falls is at least 20 m in height, and is a two-stage plunge waterfall. A small ledge, jutting no more than about a meter into the profile of the first plunge, separates the two stages. The best views of the waterfall (for those note wishing to attempt to descend to the waterfall base) are available from the right bank (looking downstream). Follow the trail along the river's edge, but go upstream from the falls. After a few hundred meters, you will be able to cross over a bridge to the other side of the creek. Turn left and walk back to the falls, walking just beyond to get to a great view of the falls through the woods.

You can explore the bedrock stream bed leading to the crest of the waterfall, but be EXTRA CAUTIOUS not to get too close to the edge! It is a surprisingly high drop here, which would certainly be fatal should someone fall over the top. For more interest, walk upstream and find the little cascade a few hundred meters upstream. This is no more than a meter in height, but is a neat find. A 3 to 4 m high rock wall borders one side of the bedrock stream bed at this point, making for interesting, though far from spectacular visiting.

Description:

The Felker’s Falls Escarpment study area includes a 4 km section of the Niagara Escarpment between Mount Albion Road and Centennial Parkway (Highway #20). This area, which has been designated an ESA, straddles the Hamilton - Stoney Creek municipal boundary. This study area includes Felker’s Falls, a waterfall and plunge pool created by Davis Creek as it crosses the escarpment. The rock exposures at the falls and in the road cut at the eastern boundary provide important geological information and are of educational value. The broadleaf upland woods along the escarpment slopes constitute a link in the corridor of natural green space along the Niagara Escarpment. In addition to escarpment vegetation, the study area extends south of the escarpment brow and includes one of the few remaining woodlots on the Vinemount Moraine. Several significant species have been found here in recent years. Much of the study area consists of publicly owned conservation lands. The natural area is presently surrounded by a mix of residential, agricultural, recreational, industrial and idle land uses; however, nearby agricultural and idle lands are rapidly being converted to suburban residential areas.

Vegetation:

Broadleaf upland woods associated with various aspects of the Niagara Escarpment are represented in the Felker’s Falls Escarpment area. In addition to the linear belt of woods along the lower slope, upper slope, and rim of the escarpment, two small wooded ravines and a woodlot on the tableland south of the escarpment are included. This latter woodlot is one of the few remaining woodlots on the Vinemount Moraine. Communities on the steep escarpment face are generally undisturbed while communities elsewhere range from slightly to moderately disturbed. Community Description: AQUATIC - SHALLOW WATER STREAMS: Small creeks cross this area, including a waterfall. TERRESTRIAL - BROADLEAF UPLAND WOODS: Sugar Maple - Red Maple - White Ash - American Beech / Variable moisture regime: wet in depressions to dry-mesic near escarpment face. (Mature stand. Variable habitat. Predominantly mesic broadleaf woods with some wet depressions with swamp species such as Buttonbush, Winterberry, Highbush Blueberry, and Marsh Fern. Some logging in past. Trampling in some sections.) Sugar Maple - White Ash - Butternut / Mesic. (Gentle slope at base of escarpment. Mature stand. Some garden refuse dumped here.) TERRESTRIAL - WOODED TALUS SLOPE: Sugar Maple - White Ash - Butternut - Basswod / Wet-Mesic to Mesic. (Mature, undisturbed stand.) TERRESTRIAL - DISTURBED, NON-FORESTED: Old field. Tall shrub thicket

Landform:

Physiography and Topography: This study area includes a 4 km section of the 700 km long Niagara Escarpment. In marked contrast to the steep wooded slopes of the escarpment, the gently-sloping areas of the Iroquois Plain below the escarpment and the Haldimand Clay Plain above the escarpment are largely devoid of natural vegetation. This segment of the escarpment trends east-west and is about 50 m high. Felker’s Falls, on Davis Creek, is a waterfall at the head of a small bedrock gorge cut in the escarpment face. The total surface relief at this site is some 70 m.

Bedrock Geology: This study area includes two good exposures of the typical stratigraphy of this section of the Niagara Escarpment. The Ordovician and Lower Silurian formations at the base of the escarpment do not outcrop but the Middle Silurian sequence from the Grimsby Formation upwards to the lower member of the Lockport Formation is well exposed in the vicinity of Felker’s Falls, and in the road cut along Highway #20 (Centennial Parkway) at the eastern limit of the study area. Although not as large as the Devil’s Punch Bowl feature to the east, the plunge pool at Felker’s Falls is an interesting feature, as is a small stream which disappears underground above the escarpment and re-appears as a spring in the face of the escarpment within the waterfall. This latter feature is an example of karstic processes. The rocks of the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton-Wentworth Region exhibit the transition between the Appalachian basin and the Algonquin Arch sedimentary environments. Comparison of the rock exposures in this study area with the many other natural and man-made exposures in the Region provides important information for deciphering the complex depositional environments of the western margin of the Appalachian basin. The natural rock exposure and plunge pool at Felker’s Falls are considered of regional significance by OMNR. Although the Highway #20 road cut is considered of lesser significance, it is more accessible for study. To the south of the study area, a small bedrock scarp, known as the Eramosa Escarpment, runs parallel to and about 1 km south of the brow of the Niagara Escarpment. This low secondary scarp marks the northern edge of the Eramosa Member of the Lockport Formation. Quarries located southeast of the study area produce aggregate materials from this formation.

Surficial Deposits: The sloping toe of the Niagara Escarpment in this section consists of clay-rich Halton Till which was lodged against the base of the bedrock cliff during the northeastwards retreat of the last glacier. The escarpment drainages have incised small ravines in the till. Halton Till is also present on the tableland between the Niagara and Eramosa Escarpments but here it forms the broad low ridge of the Vinemount Moraine, the northernmost of the series of moraines which parallel the brow of the Niagara Escarpment through much of the Niagara Peninsula. The arm of the study area stretching southeast from Felker’s Falls extends across almost the full width of the Vinemount Moraine. The till here is up to 6 m thick, although the surface expression of the moraine is less due to the irregular bedrock surface.

Soils: Soil development along the escarpment and small ravines is limited due to the steep, unstable slopes. Oneida loam is the main soil type below the escarpment. Farmington loam occurs on the shallow overburden along the rim of the escarpment. A patch of imperfectly-drained Winona sandy loam is at the western end by Mount Albion Road. The soils of the southern arm on the Vinemount Moraine include imperfectly-drained Haldimand silty clay loam and moderately well-drained Smithville silt loam.

Hydrogeology: Well data from this area are limited and only very general conclusions can be drawn. Regional groundwater flow is northerly, towards Lake Ontario. Some discharge from the bedrock aquifer occurs as seeps along the escarpment face. Groundwater recharge is likely occurring along the moraine and in the areas of shallow soils above the escarpment. Groundwater discharge from the Vinemount Moraine may also be contributing to the base flow of the creek above the escarpment. Available data are insufficient to assess the volume or significance of groundwater recharge and discharge. Hydrology and Surface Drainage: The Felker’s Falls Escarpment is crossed by a few small drainages. Davis Creek, a tributary of Redhill Creek, crosses the escarpment at Felker’s Falls in the central portion of this area. The creek has incised a small gorge into the escarpment face. As previously noted, a small tributary of Davis Creek goes underground above the escarpment and re-emerges as a spring in the face of the waterfall. Battlefield Creek, a tributary of Stoney Creek, descends the escarpment in a small ravine at the eastern end of the study area. The catchment basins of both these small streams are subject to intensive urban, agricultural and industrial land uses and consequently these creeks exhibit rapidly fluctuating flows and generally poor water quality. During the NAI survey, a small runoff creek was noted as being cloudy with a foul odour and dead bank vegetation.