Thirty Mile Creek Falls | TorontoHiking Ontario Waterfalls

Thirty Mile Creek Falls

Thirty Mile Creek Falls (Rating=B) is a ribbon cascade falls that runs 15 m down a 25 m slope into the deep gorge below and is about 2.5 m wide at the crest.

LOCATION:	This is a Niagara Region waterfall located between Grimsby and Beamsville, Ontario on property owned by the Bruce Trail Assoc. Free roadside parking is available on Ridge Road just west of Thirty Road. Click on the Road Map button below for a Google road map and driving directions. The Falls Locator button shows a map of other waterfalls in the area.
ACCESS:	Access is moderate -about a 300 m walk to the Falls. Not wheelchair accessible. Click on the Trail Map button below for area walking trails.

NEARBY FALLS	LAT	LONG	TYPE	H (m)	W (m)	SOURCE	FACING
Thirty Mile Creek Falls	N43.16762	W79.51375	ribbon cascade	15	2.5	Red Hill Creek	NE
Beamer's Falls	N43.18320	W79.57376	ribbon cascade	12	8	Forty Mile Creek	NE
Balls Falls	N43.13440	W79.38376	curtain plunge	27	26	Twenty Mile Creek	N
Eighteen Mi Crk Falls	N43.13459	W79.36473	cascade plunge	4	5	Eighteen Mile Crk	S
Louth Falls	N43.12423	W79.35093	cascade plunge	9	6.5	Sixteen Mile Creek	N

Trail Map	Road Map	Falls Locator

ToHi WATERFALL RATINGS

Overall Rating: Thirty Mile Creek Falls = B

Waterflow: B -seasonal flow
Falls Size: A - 15 m, but really a series of small ribbon falls
Aesthetics: B -nice intimate quiet area, deep gorge, forested area, quiet

THE THIRTY MILE CREEK FALLS AREA:

This is a small cascading series of waterfalls as Thirty Mile Creek flows over the rocky edge of the escarpment. The Thirty Mile Creek headwaters forest is a large wet wooded area (84 ha) that contains predominantly Red and Silver Maple, Swamp White Oak, Eastern Cottonwood, White Elm, and Pignut Hickory. Other species found on the property are Beech, Red Oak and Shagbark Hickory. The Bruce Trail Association purchased the Thirty-Mile Creek property in 1989 to secure 0.6 km of the Bruce Trail Optimum Route. There is a Thirty Mile Creek display board at the site.

thirty-mile-creek-falls 11,000 years ago, this spot was the shoreline of glacial Lake Iroquois, which created the shore bluff in the escarpment caprock just to the south. The step effect in the waterfall is cause by alternating layers of hard and soft rock that make up the Niagara Escarpment. The uppermost layer is hard dolostone. Below this are the alternating softer layers of shale and sandstone. The sandstone is more resistant to erosion than the shale, leading to the appearance that the creek flows over a series of steps.

THIRTY MILE CREEK FALLS AREA WALKING TRAILS:

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

From the roadside parking area on Ridge Road E, continue to the road intersection ahead and turn right walking downhill on Thirty Road. On your left part way down you will see a Bruce Trail sign and a log across the start of the trail. Past this log, head down into a wet marshy area and follow the path to a bridge across Thirty Mile Creek. The cascading waterfall is at your feet. From this vantage point it seems to be one small falls. Look behind you and up the hill to see a second waterfall. By crossing the bridge and walking along the gorge on the other side you can see that it is a series of cascading waterfalls all the way to the bottom of a very deep gorge. Both sides of the gorge provide good views.

In dry periods you will see only a gully of rocks devoid of water. Spring is the best time to view all of these waterfalls. Across the gorge you will see several caves lining the gorge wall that may have been used for shelter by early explorers to the area. Some of these caprock overhangs extend 3 to 4 m out from the wall. Several trees exhibit octopus like roots that wrap around rocks gripping as if out of fear of falling into the gorge. Continue along the gorge edge until you come to a small wooden bridge over a creek. There is not much point in going further so return back to the road and your parking spot.

FOR THE ADVENTUROUS ONLY:

The gorge walls are very steep on both sides. Standing on top of the path over the creek, the path to the right side soon ends and the vegetation growth becomes quite thick. On the other side, the Bruce Trail continues along the gorge edge and gradually descends. The trail then turns sharply left and heads uphill. At this point the slope to the right has become quite gradual and descent is possible here into the gorge where you would have to make your way back upstream over a rocky bed.