Sulphur Springs

For my recent birthday, my parents presented me with the book, Touring the Giants Rib, A Guide to the Niagara Escarpment by Lorina and Gary Stephens. Fully aware of my love of hiking in this area, they always know how to find me gifts that help to feed my passion for the outdoors.

Flipping through it, I stopped on a description of Sulphur Springs and realized that although I frequently drive by and hike through this area, I know very little of the history of this unique spot.

During the late 1800s, the Sulphur Springs Hotel with its mineral spa was a popular summertime destination. The sulphur waters were believed to have wondrous curative powers and as a result they attracted visitors from far and wide. The hotel closed in 1910 after two severe fires. Although the hotel is gone, the fountain that supplied the sulphur water remains.

Stopping the car along the side of the Sulphur Springs Road, the first thing you notice is the distinctive sulphur smell. Plaques on the fountain provide some information on its heritage as well as some detail into what makes this water so distinct.

This site is easy to find while driving on Sulphur Springs Road between Ancaster and Dundas and can also be accessed from the Main Loop Trail while hiking in the Dundas Valley. You will find it while hiking the area between the Trail Centre and the Hermitage site.

This is just another unique feature that makes the Dundas Valley such a rich and interesting place to explore.

Don’t forget, for more photos and hiking information, you can visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dundas-Valley-and-beyond/120774278042380

Thanks for visiting!!

Fall Hike to the Hermitage

One of my favorite areas of the valley to visit in the fall is The Hermitage. This ruin that dates back to before 1855 has a very interesting history and is particularly picturesque when surrounded by the vibrant colours of autumn.

The Hermitage can be found while hiking from the Dundas Valley Trail Centre and is located on the Main loop. This trail is a favourite of mine, filled with rolling hills, streams and moss covered rocks. There is also a small parking area at the Gatehouse Museum that provides for a shorter trail.

If in this area, step behind the Gatehouse Museum to see the Hermitage Cascade. This beautiful cascade waterfall is 13 feet (4 metres) in height and is very pretty.

On a recent visit, we started at the Hermitage Cascade, than followed the trail as it meanders towards the ruins of what was at one time an elegant estate.

According to the historical plaque at the ruins, stones used in construction were quarried from local sites, the red bricks from the Dundas Valley and the limestone sills from the Credit River Valley. The Hermitage had several owners before it was acquired by George Gordon Leith in 1855.  After George’s death in 1901, his daughter Alma Dick-Lauder bought the estate from the rest of the family and lived there until 1934, when a fire broke out during a party and burned the house down. Even after this fire, Alma continued to live on the site, building a modest home within the ruins where she lived until her death in 1942.

With the surrounding tree’s rich in red and yellows, the front facade of the home provides some indication of how majestic it once was. This is an interesting area to visit as you wonder around the remaining walls of the house and its outbuildings.

With its rich history and beautiful surroundings, a hike into this area is always worthwhile.

Don’t forget, for more photos and hiking information, you can visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dundas-Valley-and-beyond/120774278042380 Happy hiking!!

The Griffin House – History in the Valley

Often, when thinking about historical significance in the Dundas Valley our thoughts turn to the interesting history of the Hermitage. Although this is probably the most well known, there is another important site just a short walk away.

Parking by the Hermitage Gatehouse on Sulpher Springs Road in Ancaster last Saturday morning, I stopped to check out the Hermitage Cascade, a beautiful 13 foot high waterfall located directly behind the gatehouse. I had not visited this waterfall since the winter and so enjoyed how it looked surrounded by summer vegetation.

I then headed west on Sulpher Springs, continuing on Mineral Springs Road for the short walk to The Griffin House, a site that I had seen photos of but never visited before.

The Griffin House, built circa 1828, sits atop a hill on Mineral Springs Road overlooking the Valley. Originally, the farm was part of a 200 acre lot granted to David Cummings in 1798. In 1834 it was purchased, along with the surrounding 50 acres in by Enerals Griffin who purchased it from George Hogeboom, a local contractor.

Enerals Griffin along with his wife, Priscilla had crossed the border probably in the Port Stanley area in 1829, to escape slavery in the United States, possibly making use of the Underground Railroad. For the next 150 years, their descendents lived and farmed here.

In 1988, the property was sold to the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority by the estate of the last owner, a descendant of Griffin.

The small one and a half storey house is significant both from an architectural and historical point of view. One of the few remaining clapboard homes from the first half of the 19th century in the Ancaster area, it represents a modest working man's farmhouse. Its intact condition with few alterations makes it a significant architectural structure. In addition, the house and site are one of the earliest surviving homesteads in the province.

Archaeologists have unearthed over 3,000 artifacts on this small site including stoneware, porcelain, clay pipes, and masonry. Between 1992 and 1994 the house was restored to its early 19 century time period and in 1995 it was officially opened to the public.

This site now managed as a joint project between the Hamilton Conservation Authority and Fieldcote Memorial Park and Museum, was designated a National Historical Site by the Minister of the Environment, the Honourable John Baird, in 2008.

Standing alone in the shade of this humble yet important structure I tried to imagine what life might have looked like back then. A beautiful piece of history, The Griffin House is certainly worth a visit.

Check us out on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dundas-Valley-and-beyond/120774278042380

Thanks for the ongoing support and dialogue. Happy Canada Day!