Rockway Conservation Area

 I loved the Rockway Conservation area, located in Lincoln.  We parked at the Community Centre on the top of the hill.  The first thing you see entering into the gorge are the duo waterfalls off into the distance, which are unfortunately almost completely hidden behind trees.

As you can see by my photos, it's early spring but even with the sparse trees, there's no way you can take a decent shot of them.  I won't even post mine because I don't want to encourage anyone to take better pictures of them (which is easy to do! lol).

The first waterfall is known as Rockway Falls which is a ribbon cascade waterfall where 15 mile creek drops 18m into the gorge below.  It's one of four waterfalls in the immediate area and has a width of 4.5 m.   I wondered if there was a way to get a closer picture.  We spoke to a young guy taking photos down by the bridge, but he was unsure of how to get closer.


There also no barrier up top, and I'm sure by looking at the mud tracks, there are people who dare themselves to the extreme.

Really, it's not ever worth it, and if you are a social media buff, you've probably seen young people who take pictures of altitudes that would make you cringe.  I don't advocate thrill seeking behaviour and I think if we all encourage it, it won't ever go away.


Back to the trail-the path in it's worst state is mucky, slippery and slopy.  Wear well-treaded boots or shoes and be prepared to get dirty.  I love this kind of hike because it is good exercise, but there are plenty of trails here that are safe after all it is the Bruce Trail so it's pretty well maintained.

The trees are well marked and because it's early spring, we found a few divergent rivers caused by flooding.  Once you get into the valley near the bridge, you will see a very pretty cascading waterfall, which is a classical cascade water fall with a crest of 4.5 m and a drop of 5 m.   with an amazing flow from the 15 Mile creek.

Further down into the valley, there is another waterfall cascade which is best seen right after the rain, like you seen my pictures, I really can't complain about the water flow even if I was disappointed by many of my shots as I didn't bring my tripod!

I'm coming back again to this spot when the foliage is out,because I think this would be an absolute gorgeous here when the grass has grown.

All the conservation areas south of Jordan and around the St. Catherine's area are all beautiful.  We stopped for lunch just before the COVID-19 became a pandemic so now that all those places are closing down for the time being I will concentrate more on hiking and exploring and less on eating.

Good news for me as I love to do both!

Mountain Mill Decew Falls

The Morningstar Mill was a working grist mill owned and operated by the Morningstar family in 1872.

Today you can visit the Morningstar Mill as a heritage property owned by the City of St. Catherines with partnership with the friends of Morningstar Mill.

The property has several accessible buildings still such as the grist mill and turbine shed, a saw mill, a blacksmith and carpenter's shed and the home of the Morningstar family.

Mountain Mills as it was called operated from 1883 to 1933.  It had three turbines.  One for the grist mills, another ran the saw mill and third ran a generator which provided private lighting on the property.    The grist mill turbine also ran an apple cider mill.  There was an orchard of apples, cherries, pears and peaches.  Local farmers would bring their horses and wagons and wait for their apples to be pressed into cider.  The nearby barn had a team of horses, a cow, chickens and pigs.


To make repairs in the grist and saw mills, the Morningstars had a blacksmith and carpenter shop located on the property.

When the Morningstars first purchased the Mountain Mills, the sawmill building was used as a community hall where local dances were held.  After a serious fight had ensued on the property they closed it down and converted it into a sawmill which continued to operate for over 40 years!

After Mr. Wilson Morningstar passed away, the sawmill was not maintained and was eventually dismantled.  The current sawmill was built by the Friends of Morningstar Mill in the 1990s.


I love history and especially when it applies to architecture.  I want to come back and revisit again to take a walk along the Laura Secord trail and the Bruce trail, which is just located directly behind the Morningstar house.

Balls Fall Conservation Area

 We recently spent some time near Jordan, which is just southwest of the town of Lincoln, located in the gorgeous Niagara region of Ontario.

This is in the heart of Niagara wine country - prevalent vineyards and acres of farmland.  Much much prettier in the summer months when everything is green.

I've seen it then when there are rows and rows of perfectly planted grape vines and there is a stark difference in the early signs of spring.

In this historical ghost town is Balls Falls Conservation area.  It occupies a small portion of the 1200 acres bought by the Balls Brothers in the mid 1800s.  There are two waterfalls at it's location, known simply as 'Upper falls' (10.7m), and 'Lower falls' (27.4 m) high.

They both run out of the 20 Mile Creek and both are pretty impressive to look at and easy to get to which is why it's family friendly and great for families with little kids.

One of the most frustrating aspect of taking waterfall pictures is when there always seems to be a tree(s) in the way!  Such is the case here in when I was taking pictures of the Upper falls.  It's really difficult to get a picture around it, but the Lower Falls has a clear path.  It also doesn't help when the trees are mere stick-like twigs!  It sure doesn't make much of a picture frame, but you can get the idea of how lovely the water flows over firmer limestone and several weaker sandstone layers.  

The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority had purchased this land in 1962.  The gorge has become somewhat of a scientific interest and at the Ball's Falls Centre for Conservation (located near the parking lot as you come in), there is a lot to help visitors learn of the area's cultural and natural history.

Inside when opened (may-October) includes galleries, exhibits and interactive displays, archaeological finds and some information about the watershed ecosystem of the 20 mile creek.


The village of Glen Elgin is located near the Lower Falls, just opposite of the foot bridge located at the bottom of the park.  In the village, you can see the original Ball family house, and operating gristmill, a lime kiln, a restored church, a blacksmith shop and a carriage shed.

The Ball family house is a Georgian style home, and was built in 1846 for George Ball and his family.  The front of the house was then used as a general store.  George's idea was for Glen Elgin to become somewhat of a hamlet for local residents.  It never came to pass and when Mortimer inherited the home in 1883, he decorated the home to be a law office so he could work from home.


You can also see the renovated Woolen Mill was reconstructed in the early 1840s to manufacturer cloth with water and the power of steam.  By 1851 George had over 30 employees working at the mill.

There is a quaint little church in the village called, St. George Anglican church.  It was built in 1865 to serve the growing hamlet of Glen Elgin.

By the 1960s due to the growing population on the Hamilton Mountain, it was advised to build a larger church to accommodate all the parishoners.  The old church was bought by the Niagara Conservation Authority and put on the Balls Falls Conservation area as part of the Elgin Mills village.  The church today is still used occasionally for small wedding services.

I had a wonderful time here, and despite slightly chilly temps, it was still a great visit.  This is no my list to return once the weather is warmer again.  I really do need to remember to bring my tripod!

Sheppard's Bush Conservation Area

We recently stopped for a visit and a lunch into Aurora, Ontario which is a small suburb north of Richmond Hill.  You can eventually reach it if you continue north on Yonge Street outside of King City.


Aurora is big on its historical buildings - in fact in 2008, the town was awarded the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership.  Again in 2009, the town received the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership in Heritage Conservation and promotion.



From the moment you step off the train at the old Aurora Train station (which also was built in the 1800s and still remains), you can see old houses with plaques proudly displayed under street numbers giving the dates when they were built.

After a nice lunch, we took advantage of the mild temperatures to check out a nearby conservation area.  Sheppard Bush Conversation Area has a few trail loops covering about 3 km of land that take a little over an hour to complete.  I had my running shoes on, so ended up doing a little cross country skiing instead of walking as the treads were wearing down.  It was above freezing and a great day to get around without mitts and a hat for a change.

The hardwood forest greets you as you enter the mature sugar bush and upland forest, pine plantations along the ravine and East Holland River.

The trails are hard-packed with gravel and limestone for the most part during milder temperatures (April - October) so there's no reason not to use them even in winter if you stick to the course.  It's good to note that once the park reopens, this trail connects to the Nokiidaa trail to go as far as Holland Landing, or the Oak Ridges Trail to reach Palgrave or Rice lake. 

We finished the marked paths of the Sheppard's Bush, Tim Jones and Klaus Wehrenberg trails.  It took slightly under a couple of hours to move through it though most likely much quicker without snow.

There's some spectacular sized sport fields (11 soccer fields in total) which you can gain access to through the parking lot entrance off Industrial Parkways South.

The parking lot has a 3 hr visitor parking in effect so also good to note.

Also another bonus is this trail is bike friendly - what's there not to love?