Niagara Km 45.1 to Km 55 - 26 May, 2015

Hikers: Helgy, Christine, Andy and Case

Leader:  Karen

Section and Distance:  Niagara Km 45.1 to Km 55

Weather: Hot and windy

Actual Distance hiked: 12.15 km

This hike is a make up hike for Christine, Andy and Case.

After parking one car at the Balls Falls Conservation Area, we drove to Rockway Community Centre and started the hike.

Starting the hike

 Because we had not completed the previous hike we hiked down Rockway Rd back to the spot that we had hiked to on the previous hike and turned left into the trail.  The trail was re-routed in August 2014 with the completion of bridge which allowed us to cross Fifteen Mile Creek within the Rockway Conservation Area.  This new route wound through the forest by the creek surrounded by steep cliffs just before Rockway Falls.

Dry Stream

Dry Stream

New Bridge

After crossing Ninth St. we entered a mature hardwood forest.  We crossed several creeks which were basically dry.  The usual swampy area, which we followed to a road allowance was also dry.  We passed a vineyard and re-entered the bush to the Louth Conservation Area.

Tarzan Case

Elevensies

We continued along the picturesque high ground above Sixteen Mile Creek past a pretty waterfall which was dry.

We climbed the escarpment and and headed southwest towards Staff Avenue.  We headed northwest along the road and turned right onto seventeenth street.  After following the road for 1.3 kms we turned left and went half way down a hill onto a switchback.  We crossed several creeks and streams which were dry before climbing steeply to the top of the scarp and headed through a bush to nineteenth street.

We headed into the woods and descended into the valley of Twenty Mile Creek. We followed the creek for a km and climbed steeply up a set of steps into into Balls Falls Conservation Area.

We entered the park through the arboretum and descended a flight of stairs.  We used the road bridge to cross Twenty Mile Creek to our parked car.

We used the facilities as the Ball Falls Conservation area and after enjoying an ice cream bar and settling the costs, we drove back to Rockway to pick up the second car and drove home.