What to do With Your Hamilton Conservation Park Pass This Weekend
Becoming an HCA Member makes it easy for you and your family to enjoy our conservation areas and helps support the important work HCA undertakes.
As a Member, you and your family can enjoy year-round access to HCA conservation areas for 12 months from the date of purchase, for one great price! The pass will allow you and your vehicle passengers (up to 6 people total) into HCA conservation areas, including:
🌳Christie Lake
🌳Crooks Hollow
🌳Devil’s Punchbowl
🌳Dundas Valley
🌳Eramosa Karst
🌳Fifty Point
🌳Spencer Gorge
🌳Tiffany Falls
🌳Valens Lake
Christie Lake
Looking for a place to do it all? Christie Lake has you covered from hiking, swimming, boating and fishing to biking, picnicking and even disc golf! One of the most beautiful lake settings on the Niagara Escarpment, Christie Lake is where you’ll want to spend the day with your family and friends.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g2645488-d4287959-Reviews-Christie_Lake_Conservation_Area-Dundas_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Crooks Hollow
The Crooks’ Hollow trail that runs along Spencer Creek and into Christie Lake, is a quiet spot with the occasional fellow-hiker walking along.
This trail, run by the Hamilton Conservation Authority, is not long – approximately a 3.5 km round trip. Nevertheless, it’s very scenic at any time of the year, especially the Fall.
Deciduous trees offer a very colourful view, particularly along the creek.
It’s a perfect place for a nature walk that offers a bit of exploration and fun. If you’re doing a challenge of trying all the trails in the Hamilton area, this one’s on your list.
Crook’s Hollow also makes for an excellent destination for a day trip from Toronto.
Plan your trip here:
Devils Punch Bowl
This conservation area contains two separate falls, Upper and Lower Punch Bowl Falls.
The Lower Falls is a 5.5-metre classical waterfall, and the main Upper Falls is a 33.8-metre ribbon waterfall. The Devil’s Punch Bowl is one of the Niagara Escarpment’s most amazing sights, created at the end of the last ice age by huge melt-water rivers that plunged over the Stoney Creek Escarpment, thus carving the Punch Bowl and gorge.
From the bottom of the falls, one can see the many different coloured rock layers of the Escarpment. The Punch Bowl is the only area where one can view such a large vertical display of Ordovician and Silurian stratified rock. Some of the layers include Queenston Formation red shale, Cabot Head grey shale, limestone and shale dolomite. There is a spectacular view of Stoney Creek and Hamilton Harbour from the lookout, not to mention the view down into the seemingly bottomless gorge. The Dofasco 2000 Trail, an 11.5-kilometre trail through upper Stoney Creek that features a long boardwalk section through Vinemount Swamp Forest, begins here.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g3404947-d1098042-Reviews-Devil_s_Punchbowl_Conservation_Area-Stoney_Creek_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Dundas Valley
The Dundas Valley is one of southern Ontario’s most spectacular natural treasures. Highlights of the 1,200-hectare conservation area include lush Carolinian forests, colourful meadows, cold-water streams, stunning geological formations and an array of rare plants, birds and wildlife.
The area is part of a large glacial valley that spreads out into Lake Ontario. It was excavated by a succession of glaciers that disappeared some 10,000 years ago The landscape that emerged has been shaped by glacial meltwater and, more recently, by streams flowing through the valley.
The rich natural environment existing here and along the Niagara Escarpment has been designated a World Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Plan you trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g154990-d4060380-Reviews-Dundas_Valley_Conservation_Area-Hamilton_Ontario.html
Eramosa Karst
Look for an exciting natural adventure? Venture through the Eramosa Karst; filled with underground caves and streams, meadows and forests! As one of the watershed’s most unique natural gems, it’s the perfect location for hiking, nature appreciation and education.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g3404947-d2634262-Reviews-Eramosa_Karst_Conservation_Area-Stoney_Creek_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Fifty Point
Welcome to Fifty Point Conservation Area on Lake Ontario, a magnificent 80-hectare park with superb marina facilities in Stoney Creek. It’s the place to be for a swim in Lake Ontario, family camping or a picnic for groups of any size.
Visitors can also enjoy a fabulous lakefront view by walking our promenade or while relaxing at conveniently located benches and shaded areas.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g3404947-d4287949-Reviews-Fifty_Point_Conservation_Area-Stoney_Creek_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Spencer Gorge
From the escarpment brow, noted for its panoramas, to the forested depths of the gorge below, the Spencer Gorge Conservation Area exhibits the physical features which have made the Niagara Escarpment one of Ontario’s most spectacular geological formations.
This significant natural area contains two beautiful waterfalls: Webster and Tew Falls. Webster is a magnificent tiered waterfall and Tew, which towers at 41 metres, is only a few metres shorter than Niagara Falls. Both offer spectacular vistas of the gorge.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g2645488-d1718994-Reviews-Spencer_Gorge_Conservation_Area-Dundas_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Tiffany Falls
The short walk to this expansive cascade waterfall is a beautiful one through a forested trail and over bridges that crisscross a stream. It’s an easy hike from the parking lot on Wilson Street – making it a great spot for kids and families. There’s also a connection to the Bruce Trail if you’re up for a longer hike.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g499248-d5050484-Reviews-Tiffany_Falls_Conservation_Area-Ancaster_Hamilton_Ontario.html
Valens Lake
Looking for a northern feel without the drive? Valens Lake offers you the look and feel of the ‘north’, right in your own backyard! The area is a 300-hectare mecca for campers, anglers and outdoor lovers alike.
Plan your trip here: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g154990-d536004-Reviews-Valens_Conservation_Area-Hamilton_Ontario.htmlÂ
References:
https://suburbantourist.ca/adventure/outdoors/crooks-hollow-trail-in-flamborough-greensville-a-taste-of-history-along-the-way/
Looking to buy, sell or rent a home?
Contacts us today for help!
(905) 545-1188
Office: 860 Queenston Road Stoney Creek, ON L8G 4A8
Serving: Hamilton, Burlington, Dundas (Ontario, Canada)
