Apr 2

April 2015 DeCew Falls

April 2015 DeCew Falls

Giant’s Rib Escarpment Education Network’s Waterfall of the Month for April 2015 is DeCew Falls.

DeCew Falls, also known as Upper DeCew Falls, is located on Beaverdams Creek in St. Catharines. It is considered a Ribbon Plunge type waterfall with a height of approximately 20 m and a crest width of approximately 10 m. It has year round flow and thus worth a visit anytime. Its coordinates are 43.1105 N and 79.2645 W.

The DeCew Falls Generating Station, located nearby, was 4a DeCew Falls postcard 1911 - April 2015originally built in 1898 to supply electricity to Hamilton, and is still in use today, making it the oldest continually running hydroelectric power generating station in Canada.

To the right is a vintage postcard courtesy of Janet Forjan-Freedman dated 1911 showing DeCew Falls.

Below is a recent photo of DeCew Falls showing the ice formation covering much of the waterfall in winter.

The third photo shows a fairly large Ice Cave located behind the waterfall in winter due to a large cavity under the rock behind the falls’ wall of ice.

To visit DeCew Falls, take Hwy 406 exit off the QEW, then exit at St. David’s Rd. and go right. In a short distance turn left onto Merrittville Highway, then right onto DeCew Rd. Follow this for 1.8 km to the Morningstar Mills parking lot on the right side. The waterfall is beside the trail past the building.

By Joseph Hollick

4b DeCew Falls - April 20154c DeCew Falls ice cave - April 2015