S1.Ep4 "The Legend Of Smokey Hollow". Hiking The Bruce Trail End To End Grindstone Creek Great Falls

Season 1, Episode 4 : “The Legend Of Smokey Hollow”
This episode marks the return (from the future) of my good friend Steve Hayes. We had already been hiking together on the trail as you will see in future episodes, but had to come back to finish this section.
We walked under HWY 6 through a well graffiti’d tunnel, and through the beautiful Clappison Woods, over the railway tracks and across Snake Rd where we descended into the deep Grindstone Creek Valley.
Walking up Grindstone Creek we took some time to explore and adventure among the giant slabs of rock, and many small waterfalls cascading down the creek. We came across a fantastic and magical art project – someone (or a group of people) had made hundreds of towers of balanced rocks over a sprawling area along the river bed. It was really amazing to see, and a beautiful tribute to the land.
We made our way up to “Smokey Hollow”, the spot where Grindstone Creek becomes Great Falls and majestically slips over the escarpment and onto the jumbled rocks below, creating the “hollow” which used to fill up with smoke from the mill that was once there, hence the name, Smokey Hollow.
At that site is an old millstone, once used at the mill, donated by my Grandparents Robert and Rose McNairn, longtime residents of Waterdown who lived just up the hill across from Smokey Hollow.
We continued across Waterdown Rd. along a weaving trail through town, that eventually led to Waterdown Woods for a pleasant jaunt. Approaching Burlington we walked through Kerncliff Park, nestled in a beautiful revitalized quarry. We crossed Dundas St (HWY 5), and further Cedar Springs Rd. and Guelph Line with an extended road section to end the day, a nice walk with an escarpment view, and continued up Walkers Line where the day ended, at the base of Mt.Nemo.

Notes
Season One covers the first 450 km of the trail from Niagara to Collingwood and is 19 Episodes – airing weekly, every Tuesday from Nov.9th 2021 to March 15th 2022 on YouTube, Rumble, CloutHub, BitChute and Minds.
Visit SteveWelchOntario.com for more information, links to episodes, and music from the series.
Comments are welcome – Have you hiked this area? Are there other good trails nearby? Do you live in the area and have stories to share? Old escarpment legends or family history? What influence has the Niagara Escarpment and the Bruce Trail had in your life? It would be great to hear as well from those around the world who love to get outside and enjoy and appreciate the beautiful land.
Thanks as always to the many people, past, present and future who work tirelessly to create, maintain and improve our trail systems. And thanks to the landowners who share their beautiful land. It is very much appreciated.
Details:
Bruce Trail Reference Guide Maps: 9-10
Total Map Distance : 21.5 km
Step Counter Distance : 26.1 km
Music from the Episode:
“Plantation” and “Bleasdell’s Boulder” from the album Steve Welch 2019
“Drumtree” from the album Upland
Intro : “Things Are Happening” and “Alive Healthy and Free” from the album Upland
Outro : “Algorithm” from the album Upland
Individual songs $0.99, Upland Album $9.99 (16 songs)
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