Forks Of The Credit Provincial Park: Icy Waterfalls In Ontario Deep Freeze

There’s been a lot of talk during the extreme arctic cold of 2015 about Niagara Falls freezing over on the American side. In fact, the waterfall is not frozen over but an ice dome (for lack of a better description) has formed over the flowing water. The Niagara River is still running, just underneath a blanket of ice.

The Credit River is no Niagara River and Church’s Falls (aka Cataract Falls) is no Niagara Falls. However, when the Credit River passes through Forks of the Credit Provincial Park, south of Orangeville and north of Brampton, the water is flowing pretty quick. The water is also flowing over the solid rock of the Niagara Escarpment. These factors make it a rare occurrence when the waterfalls freeze over.

Much the same as the American Falls, Church’s Falls, along with the two smaller drops just up stream, are not actually frozen over. There is water flowing, it’s just hidden by a fairly massive dome of ice.

Just for reference, when the river is flowing without ice and snow, the height is around 40 feet for the main waterfall with a crest of around 30 feet.

Frozen Forks of the Credit Provincial Park

The images in this article were taken on February 27, 2015. It was a last chance visit as temperatures are finally predicted to rise. I have been visiting this site for many years and I have never seen such a complete freeze before.

It’s more than a bit eerie in this state. Normally, the waterfall can be heard from quite a distance away and are quite deafening up close. Frozen as it is, the waterfalls are mostly silent with a distant sound of flowing water somewhere beneath. There is also the periodic solid cracking sound as the ice shifts and evolves. Add to that the animal tracks that lead in and out of the cave that is normally covered by a thick curtain of water and you have something out of a Jack London book.

There is a viewing platform up the cliff on the south side of the image above. Coming down that sharp incline is possible but off-limits and quite dangerous any time of year. I’m not a fan of being told where I can and cannot go but I agree with the MNR on this one simply due to the ecological damage done by people sliding down the raw earth.

To get to this point, I hiked the Bruce Trail downstream a ways before heading back up the river bed on snowshoe. Still hazardous and a decent workout, it was much more acceptable in my mind than tumbling head over heal down a steep incline that I may not have been able to get back up.

Luckily, I was not the first. Amongst all those animal tracks in the images are a set of snowshoe tracks. If not for this mystery person blazing the trail, I probably would not have continued on as far as I did. At times, you’re on thick snow and can hear the river flowing beneath. Thoughts of breaking through, getting stuck and dying of hypothermia bounce rampantly through your head.

The above image is actually not part of the waterfall. This is ice that has formed against the rock cliff and cement wall (leftover from the days when a power station existed here). Above that are the train tracks that run between Brampton and Orangeville and house the Credit Valley Explorer tour train.

Looking into the cave that actually allows you behind the waterfall in warmer months. My trail blazing snowshoe mystery friend went into the cave but I did not. Been there. Done that. Didn’t need to do it again when escape would be very, very slow.

Above is a where there is a short drop just before the main waterfall.

To the far left is the crest of the main waterfall. Any other time of year, the water is passing by this point at a dizzying speed.

Above – looking across the upper falls. For those who have visited Forks of the Credit Provincial Park, this is the waterfall with the walking bridge running directly overtop the crest.

Below – HD video clips of the frozen Credit River. There is no dubbed in background music – just the sounds of near silence (and possibly my heart beating). Below that is a video we took a few years ago during the summer months which shows the base area of the main waterfall and the cave beneath.