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River

Sixteen Mile Creek

Class

Plunge

Size

Small

Visitability

Good

Accessibility

Free

Activity

Quiet

Walk Time

10min

Trail

Moderate

Gorge Access

Difficult

Other Trails

Lots (Bruce Trail)

County

Niagara

Exit the QEW at Jordan Road. Go south on Jordan road to the end. Turn left on Niagara Rd 81 (Old Hwy 8) and then turn right on to 17th St. Drive up to the top of the escarpment on 17th St and turn left on 7th Ave. Just before7th Ave curves to the right, there is a small gravel parking lot on the left with a sign for "Louth Conservation Area." Park in the small gravel lot.

Settlement

Jordan

NTS Map

30 M/3

Easting

634180

Northing

4775968

UTM Zone

As far as its many waterfalls go, this is probably the Niagara Peninsula's best secret! This pretty little falls is located where 16 Mile Creek tumbles over Irondequoit Limestone of the Niagara Escarpment. After parking in the small lot, follow the trail through the deciduous forest for about 200 - 300 m. Notice the karst landscape surrounding you. This landscape develops when exposed limestone is eroded chemically by weak acids in precipitation. The shallow trenches you can see are termed "grikes" or "karren" and likely originated as joints in the bedrock, which were subsequently enlarged by chemical erosion. The trail veers to the right and runs down a small section of the escarpment. A second trail meets in this area (top or bottom of the hill - I can't remember). Follow this trail to the left for about 3-4 minutes until you approach the falls (you'll have the same view as above).

If you cross Sixteen Mile Creek above the falls, you can walk up the river bed, back towards the road. This may enter private property. There is another "falls" closer to the road, which I've termed Louth Falls (upper), although from what I can remember, reconstruction of the road has resulted in much of the creek flowing beneath large dolostone boulders. As far as I remember, access to the lower gorge is by walking back to the first trail, proceeding down the hill to the next cross trail and turing left. You may be able to scramble down the gorge walls to the right of the location shown above, but use caution - while the gorge isn't that deep, the walls are steep.

This waterfall is featured in the print version of "Waterfalls of Ontario."