Exploring 6 Stunning Hamilton Waterfalls in Winter

Ontario winters are quite varied. The winter I originally wrote this post, 2017/2018, was a particularly cold one. There was lots of snow and many -30 degrees days. Not the funnest time to be exploring Ontario right? But, I’ve grown to embrace the winter and despite the cold I try to continue exploring Toronto and Ontario. Let’s be real, if I didn’t I’d only get to see my surrounding area for like 6 out of the 12 months a year. Yeah, our winters are long. Like really long. With that being said, as long as you are prepared for the weather you can definitely still continue exploring. The best part? Ontario (and the rest of Canada) is absolutely stunning in the snow. Hamilton’s only an hour away from Toronto so it’s really easy as a day-trip and while we’ve hiked the waterfalls numerous times in the summer/spring/fall this original blog post was our first time exploring it in the winter.

Since I originally posted this blog post we’ve gone back to explore several other frozen Hamilton waterfalls. Our initial visits were to Tew Falls, Webster Falls and Tiffany Falls. We’ve then gone back to Tiffany Falls a second time cause it’s so lovely frozen. After that we discovered Felker’s Falls which is one of my favorites as it’s still relatively unpopular and we had the trail totally to ourselves. Our most recent winter Hamilton waterfalls experience was a full day exploring Devil’s Punchbowl, Albion Fall, Sherman Falls and Borer’s Falls so in total you’ve got 8 beautiful falls below to explore. Some are easier with a viewing platform while some are a short walk and others a hike. Depending on what you’re in the mood for one of these is bound to fit the agenda!

Tew Falls

Tew Falls is a ribbon waterfall with a 41 meter height. It’s also only 100 meters from the parking lot so it’s all of a 3-4 minute walk up to the viewing platform for Tew Falls. Fun fact: Tew Falls is only a couple of meters shorter than Niagara Falls!

Tew Falls/Dundas Peak and Webster’s Falls are part of the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area. They are incredibly busy in the fall and require advanced bookings during this time frame but this is not in place during the winter season so you can just visit at your own leisure as long as you pay the parking fee of $16.50.

Webster’s Falls

While Tew Falls and Webster’s Falls are really close (see the below map) you actually can’t walk between them. It’s not as busy in the winter so it’s not an issue driving over and finding a spot. As mentioned above, you need to pay for the parking but do not require a reservation in the winter.

Webster’s Falls is one of the classic waterfalls in Hamilton and you may have seen pictures of people at the bottom of the waterfall. As far as I know it’s technically never been allowed but was somewhat tolerated in the past. This has changed and I would not recommend jumping any fences to get to the bottom despite what you see online. I personally would not risk it in the winter with all the snow and ice at all. The view from above is absolutely stunning though and taking it in from there is still magical!

Tiffany Falls

Tiffany Falls is arguably the best of these falls to check out because you can access it so very easily. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk from the parking lot depending on your speed (it’s literally 360 meters from the parking lot). The hike there is not very extraneous and doesn’t require any level of fitness at all. Because of the snow and the ice you do have to be careful not to slip! I of course say this from personal experience because I very confidently walked the trail with zero problems but fell completely flat on my butt once I got to the viewing platform. Terrified an older couple who probably thought I died too haha. If you happen to be reading this I apologize for scaring you!

Tiffany Falls is incredibly popular and once the falls are frozen over people do actually go ice climbing on the falls (which to me is absolutely insane but hey to each their own!) so there’s usually a fair amount of people there on weekends. If you can, head there early or on a weekday to have the place to yourself!

Google/GPS kind of misdirects you when trying to find Tiffany Falls so make sure you’re inputting the parking lot I’ve added onto the map below as opposed to just typing in Tiffany Falls (that’ll take you into a residential area). Parking also costs here and is $11.50. Tiffany Falls has gotten significantly more popular since my last couple of visits and as a result there’s been huge issues with parking. If the actual parking lot is full alternative parking can be found at Dundas Valley at 650 Governors Road. There is trail access to Tiffany Falls from there. Fair warning that at about 5 km, it’s a significantly further hike compared to snagging a spot in the actual parking lot. 

Felker’s Falls

Felker’s Falls is a little different from most of the waterfalls on this list because you can actually view it in two different ways. 

The lesser effort is to view it from above from the viewing platform. This can be accessed through Ackland Street and at the time of our visit parking was free. It’s then a short, accessible walk along the wooden fence to see the top of the falls.

If you’re looking to get to the bottom of the falls it’s a slightly harder journey. It’s definitely not accessible and you will require some pretty good shoes to get through it. We had spikes underneath our boots and it was still slippery in some places. There’s a trail entrance by Quigley Road/Hildegard Drive. You walk straight in towards the river, make a left and then follow the trail/river all the way to the falls. We did have to cross the river on some stones at some point. You’re not going to get an accurate distance on google maps cause it keeps trying to default back to the conservation area but I want to say the walk to the falls took us about 45 minutes just cause we were being super careful but it was much quicker back to the car afterwards. 

If you’re going to attempt the trail to the bottom of the falls please do be respectful of the fact that you’re parking in a residential neighborhood and follow all posted signs regarding parking.

Devil’s Punchbowl Falls

Devil’s Punchbowl is a great set of upper and lower falls. It’s got a paid parking lot and parking is $8.50 for the day. It’s only a few minutes walk out to the platform overlooking the upper falls so it’s quite accessible. The platform provides a great view of the upper falls and depending on the flow of the lower falls and the angle you’re standing at you should theoretically be able to see them as well but I just never have been able to.

Even when the upper falls does freeze over there is still a little bit of flow so it’s cool to try to catch that. If you walk along the road, carefully, you can actually see the top of the upper falls where the stream comes from.

You can actually hike down to the bottom of the falls but it’s quite a strenuous journey. Depending on your comfort/fitness it can take anywhere from 30-60 minutes. We’ve done it in spring time and it was wet and muddy but worth it for the views. I haven’t done it in the winter so not too sure how hard the journey down the hill would be with snow/ice. 

Albion Falls

Albion Falls is one of the more popular falls in the Hamilton area. You used to be able to hike right up to it but unfortunately people used to climb the waterfall and there were a number of injuries as well as two deaths which has resulted in the falls being fenced off. There is a free parking lot close by and the walk up to the viewing platform is quite short so it’s definitely still worth the visit. Given the size and power that Albion Falls comes down with, it requires a prolonged period of very cold temperatures for it to freeze. We had visited on like the 3rd day of -15 to -20 Celsius degrees weather and it still wasn’t frozen solid! You can see in the pictures that the surrounding parts where less water is dripping has frozen but the bigger fall is still too powerful for complete freezing. 

Check out the below map to figure out where to go to check out these waterfalls. Like I mentioned above, if you’re headed to Tiffany Falls make sure you set your GPS to the parking lot and not the falls!

Do you do any winter exploring in your area? Have you ever checked out frozen waterfalls before? Let me know in the comments and pin the post for your upcoming visit!