Hiking Sherman Falls

Canada travelog #19
Hamilton, ON · Tue, 26 Aug 2025. 4:15pm.

This afternoon we hiked Sherman Falls in Hamilton. It's the first half of our second two-fer today. After the bust with dry balls we found plenty of wetness over at Albion Falls and Buttermilk Falls. Now we're doing another two-fer with Sherman and Tiffany Falls. Except it's not quite a two-fer because although we could park once and hike both falls— the distance between the two is reasonable— why hike when we can drive? Especially when the trail between the two mostly just follows the road. And it's starting to rain.

The first bit of fun with hiking Sherman Falls was parking at Sherman Falls. If there's one thing the Hamilton region loves even more than putting fences around waterfalls, more than growing thorny vines over fences over fences around waterfalls, it's putting No Parking signs all up and down the streets near waterfalls. The damn things were growing wild like poison ivy in the summer. We parked in a designated lot almost 1/2 mile away. And we had to pay. Thankfully not $22.50 like yesterday, but also not cheap.



Although the sun is shining in this photo (above; you can see shade under the brim of my hat) it sure was dark as we hiked through the thick forest in the canyon up to Sherman Falls. Yes, this is finally a waterfall with a trail up the bottom of the canyon! Though honestly I think the reason the city hasn't fenced it off and forced us to view it only from safety above is that the land above is all privately owned. So it's already fenced— and the Parks & Rec people aren't allowed. 🤣



There was one other small family at the falls when we arrived. We hung back a bit as they were crowding the scene vamping with duck-lipped poses for Insta or whatever. Once they were gone we had the falls to ourselves for about 15 minutes, before the next small group arrived. Doing these waterfalls hikes midweek definitely changes the crowding equation vs. our normal of hiking on Saturday and Sunday because we're working stiffs.



Curiously there are two trails to Sherman Falls, one from the left and one from the right, and they do not join near the falls. If there was a footbridge over the stream in the past there's no sign of it now. Instead I found a place where the water was shallow a bit down from the falls and rock-hopped across. Hawk didn't want to chance getting wet feet and socks (we're wearing hiking sandals today; boots might have been a better choice) so we walked out opposite trails and met back at the road.

Up next: Hiking Tiffany Falls

Hiking Tiffany Falls

Canada travelog #20
Hamilton, ON · Tue, 26 Aug 2025. 4:45pm.

As a second two-fer today we visited Tiffany Falls in Hamilton. It's not far down the road from Sherman Falls, which we finished hiking just minutes ago. But it is down the road— as in, hiking from one to the other would've meant hiking along the road. On a drizzly day when afternoon commute traffic is starting to pick up, hiking a road isn't fun. So we drove and parked near these falls.

It was a short walk up the canyon to the falls. Again, yay for trails that approach falls from below instead of above. A bonus is the city doesn't need to surround the cliffs with fences to prevent people from falling to their deaths.



At this falls there was even a nice viewing platform at the bottom of the canyon. I posted up there to make some photos while Hawk went on ahead to the bottom of the falls itself.

This photo (and the following) make it look like we had the place to ourselves. We did not. This being an easy trail with a huge payoff, there were a few other groups in there with us, even on a weekday afternoon.

One of the other hikers called out to me about the camera I was using. My Fujifilm X series gets occasional attention for its retro looks, with black panels on a silver body. People are curious if I'm shooting film. Going old-school with film cameras has become something of a fad among young photography enthusiasts the past several years. Me? I went digital over 20 years ago and haven't turned back.

The fellow photography enthusiast who struck up a conversation on this hike was a tad more interested in the pictures than the gear. Gear talk was the ice-breaker. He wanted to see some of my pictures. That's a good thing, and particularly wise for a young person such as himself. Good gear helps, but it's the skill of the person behind the lens that really matters. He was blown away by the photos I was making, such as the one above. He complimented my composition in particular. Modern camera technology can cover over a lot of weaknesses in a photographer's skills, but composition is not one of them. As we got to talking he expressed interest in my blog— yes, this blog— and chatted about other places each of us have been.



After the photography talk and the compliments I felt I should sneak in a bit of a selfie. 🤣 Yes, I use my iPhone along with my dedicated camera on hikes like this. The dedicated camera captures those richly colored photos and offers filters and controls for motion-blur pictures of waterfalls.



For this shot I got up close and personal with the falls. I mean, I'm still standing about 10' away from the water, but it's a lot closer than the viewing platform or even where most people were hopping across the rocks to.



This last photo I made from the spot where most people were posing for photos in the canyon. As I noted above, it felt a bit crowded here today. There were at least a dozen other people around us. But I waited for a gap in traffic to capture the falls by themselves.