Located around 40 kilometres from Toronto Pearson International Airport, Hilton Falls is the perfect layover trip for travellers. If you’re from out of country and don’t have time to really explore Canada’s wilderness, Hilton Falls Conservation Area will give you a quick taste of what it’s all about, just a short drive from the airport.
Hilton Falls Conservation Area
Just off highway 401, at the Campbellville exit, Hilton Falls is a dayuse park with a surprisingly high amount of hiking/cycling trails. Parking at the Campbellville Road main entrance will cost $6.50 for each adult. Pretty steep for a mostly unserviced park.
However, if you’re up for a bit of walking, you can park off sixth line at the back of the conservation area and hike into the waterfall for free. No, you are not trespassing. The Bruce Trail has a side trail that runs through the park, directly beside the waterfall. There are Bruce Trail access points along sixth line with minimal parking at each.
The walk in from sixth line is between five and six kilometres, one way. It’s an easy hike through relatively flat, forested land.
If you choose to pay for parking, the walk is still two kilometres in. This can be a very busy spot, depending on when you go. There is a picnic area near the crest of the waterfall and, at times, it can almost have a carnival atmosphere with groups from Toronto carting in a buffet.
Interestingly, once you go down the steps below the waterfall and jump the fence to get near the base, the waterfall drowns out the human noise and the tight landscape puts them out of sight.
Hilton Falls is one of many Niagara Escarpment waterfalls and is mostly a straight plunge. Not the largest, the crest is about 20 feet across and the plunge is about 20 feet down. In typical Escarpment waterfall fashion, you can walk behind the veil of water that is Hilton Creek.
As seen in the first image, there are ruins from an old mill to the right when facing the waterfall. According to the Hilton Falls Conservation Area’s website, these ruins are ‘mysterious’.
Of course, you need not walk into the waterfall. The trails here are wide and smooth, more resembling roads that trails. There is a large network of these trails throughout the park so bring your bike to better enjoy the experience.
Just a note on the images. The waterblur are all exposures of between 13 and 25 seconds. It was a nice overcast day but these images were made possible by my Polaroid Variable Density ND Filter to reduce the light. On the other end of the spectrum, the images with the water frozen were taken a high speed, 1/1600th of a second, in fact.
The video below was taken the same day and shows various angles of the waterfall. Be sure to hit the ‘Like’ button!
Hilton Falls Video
Maps to Hilton Falls Conservation Area
