The Hamilton Conservation Authority Board has approved a multi-year plan to transform the Tiffany Falls Conservation Area to better handle the hundreds of visitors per day at the unique, but small, urban waterfall which is easily accessed from Wilson Street.
HCA Director, Capital Projects & Strategic Services Matthew Hall said the site is “facing increasing challenges related to access, visitor experience, day-to-day management and ecological health” and action needs to be taken to protect the environmental health of the area and address growing problems along Wilson Street due to congestion in the parking lot.
The changes are part of a comprehensive strategy to address growing problems resulting from the popularity of the easily accessed urban waterfall that flows over the Niagara Escarpment in Ancaster.
More than 900 visits per day can be recorded.
The HCA states this is contributing to “severe erosion along the trail, boardwalk, and bridges” at the site and there are growing negative impacts to species that thrive in the “very rare” conditions of the site being surrounded on three sides by carbonate cliff rim.
The comprehensive plan is going to take a “number of years” to implement, said Ward 12 Councillor Craig Cassar, adding he hopes it will address many of the challenges caused by the popularity of the site.
Plan Will Create New Parking Lot, Close Wilson Street Lot
The plan will include creating a clearly delineated walking trail, installing features to keep visitors on the trail, and possibly a new viewing platform.
The biggest change will be the closure of the existing 15-space parking lot on Wilson Street. It will be replaced by a new 30-space parking lot on Lower Lion’s Club Road.
A new trail will be constructed to connect it to the Bruce Trail. The new trail connecting the new parking lot to Wilson Street will be approximately 350 metres long. Upgrades will be considered for the pedestrian crossing at Wilson Street.
“We need to work with city staff to make sure that’s going to work and that it is safe,” Cassar said.
The Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC) and Hydro One must approve the new parking lot plan, as it is within the NEC jurisdiction and will be located underneath Hydro One transmission lines.
Tiffany Falls: Visitors Parking Illegally, Even with $250 Fines
HCA landscape architect Madolyn Armstrong says Tiffany Falls is experiencing hundreds of visits each day, with some days peaking at around 900 people.
“More typically it was between 200 and 400 on the weekends, and then some of those peaks go up above 800.”
The parking lot is often full and people have been illegally parking on the roadway, in nearby neighbourhoods, and in the parking lots of local businesses.
In 2021, the City declared a special enforcement area. Special bylaw officers are deployed in the area, with $250 tickets issued for parking violations. Concrete barriers were installed along Wilson Street to protect the bike lane.
Ward 1 Councillor Maureen Wilson said she has “struggled as a public trustee” with issuing “$250 parking tickets for people seeking to access green space.”
Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark, who is also the HCA Board Chair, said the challenges at Tiffany Falls are being experienced across the region.
“The closest analogy that I have that I’ve experienced is Devil’s Punch Bowl,” Clark said. “We had people parking on both sides of Ridge Road … it was simply because the parking lot was full.”
Clark explained the behaviour he observes at popular waterfall destinations. “When I’m out there on the weekends talking to folks, they’re not coming and staying at the Devil’s Punch Bowl. They come to see the view, they come to get the pictures, they grab some selfies, and then they’re moving on to another waterfall and another waterfall.”
This is why the HCA needs to provide parking at popular destinations.
HCA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Burnside said the authority could consider a reservation system for Tiffany Falls, if the new parking lot and other changes are insufficient to address negative impacts of the high volume of visitors.
Councillors want HSR Bus Stop at Tiffany Falls
Cassar and Wilson both say they want to see an HSR bus stop installed at Tiffany Falls.
Due to the narrowness of the roadway at the Tiffany Falls entrance, HSR buses travelling upbound (westbound to Meadowlands) are not able to safely embark and disembark passengers.
“It is a very difficult place to get to without a vehicle. Yes, there are bike lanes, but the bus service doesn’t stop right there and walking any distance up or down Wilson is not really a good idea,” Cassar said.
“If there are capital improvements required, I would be supportive of exploring options to make this work so that people can get there without a car.”
Burnside said the “HCA has reached out to the Hamilton Street Railway and we were advised that they were unable to consider that request given the grade of Wilson Street.”
Wilson responded saying, “That’s interesting because I believe there is a stop on the Jolley Cut, which is much more significantly sloped.”
Clark said he’ll bring the issue to a future Council meeting.
“It would be great if we could get the HSR to stop right close by, and I think it is an equity issue because we do not have many conservation areas where there’s a bus that drives by them,” Clark said. “Perhaps it’s something that we, as councillors, can convince the HSR to act on in the next round of their budget.”
Cassar said the HCA and City will need to “engage experts to find a way to make it work … then figure out what’s required.”
Cost Estimate of $200,000 – $225,000
The HCA estimates it will cost between “$200,000 and $225,000 to do the entire project.”
This “includes gates and parking and all those curbs,” stated HCA Board Member Wayne Terryberry.
Unique Ecosystem That is Tiffany Falls
The HCA Board was presented with a comprehensive report outlining how some species thrive in the unique conditions created by Tiffany Falls.
Trees include “black maple (Acer saccharum ssp. nigrum) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum ssp. saccharum) that dominate the talus slopes and form about half of the canopy with Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis).”
Wildflowers and herbaceous plants include “wild ginger (Asarum canadense), spotted jewel-weed (Impatiens capensis), herb Robert (Geranium robertianum), zig-zag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), and blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides) are some of the wildflowers that are abundant in this community.”
The report states these wildflowers are “considered very rare” within Ontario.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: July 7, 2025
Last updated: July 7, 2025
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version