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River

Trent River

Class

Step

Size

Large

Visitability

Good

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Moderate

Walk Time

1min

Trail

Easy

Gorge Access

Easy

Other Trails

Some

County

Northumberland

Take Hwy 115 to Peterborough and follow the expressway to the end. At the end of the Expressway, turn right (east) on Hwy 7. After about 30 minutes, turn right (south) on Peterborough #30, and drive south for about 7-8 minutes. Just before you cross the long bridge over the Trent River, watch for Woodland Estates Rd on the left. This is a small public residential road: the "private" sign refers to the house property on the right side of the road. Simply follow this road to the end, and park in the gravel lot.

Settlement

Healey Falls

NTS Map

31 C/5

Easting

278428

Northing

4917402

UTM Zone

Healey Falls is a big one! Admittedly, it has been partially compromised by the construction of an equally big dam right across the top of the falls. It is still, however, a great place to visit. The Trent River falls probably 10-20 meters, not in one large plunge, but in a rugged series of wide steps. The limestone is thinly bedded yielding hundreds of little steps. If the river flow isn't too great, you can easily walk right out onto the bedrock below the dam. If the flow is high though, watch out! I've seen the river blasting across the bedrock with fatal force, carrying test sticks dropped from the dam out to the bay in seconds!

Locks 15, 16 and 17 of the Trent-Severn Canal are located to the west. A concrete trail leads up over the long dam structure. The trail becomes a long concrete berm that supports the approach channel to the locks (see long white feature in photo, left of the dam). Be sure to watch out for poison ivy on the way - it is very common around the entire site. The walk to the Locks also takes you past the Healey Falls Generating Station. The station was built from 1912-14 and contains three giant feeder pipes, each 3.6m in diameter.

This waterfall is covered in more detail in the print version of "Waterfalls of Ontario."