Hamilton Waterfalls from Toronto: Spencer Gorge and Webster Falls

Spencer Gorge Conservation Area is the Hamilton day that holds Webster Falls, Tew Falls, and Dundas Peak. They are not one parking lot and not one trail. Webster Falls uses 28 Fallsview Road in Dundas. Dundas Peak and Tew Falls use 590 Harvest Road in Dundas. The Hamilton Conservation Authority says there is no trail between Tew Falls and Webster Falls. The photograph on this page is a park path in Hamilton, not either waterfall.

Two hikes, and the reservation window

The authority's reservation guide calls Webster Falls a 22-metre curtain waterfall, with a restored cobblestone bridge over Spencer Creek and the accessible Dobson-McKee lookout. Tew Falls is listed at 41 metres, a few metres shorter than Niagara Falls. The area overview uses the word tiered for Webster, which does not match curtain. Use the reservation guide for the height and the shape, and look at the falls yourself rather than picking a label off a single page.

The area is open seven days, sunrise to sunset, unless a notice says otherwise. Through the fall colour window the gates are not first-come. A notice dated for 26 September 2026 says an advance reservation is required seven days a week from 26 September until 8 November 2026. The same dates sit on the reservation page banner. The area page still contains an older paragraph saying reservations are not required and that visitation is first-come. Both sentences are on the authority's site. On a day inside that window, trust the banner and the September notice, and read both pages the morning you leave. The notice says visitors without a reservation are denied entry while the window is in force.

Book on hcareservations.ca under the Spencer Gorge tab. A two-hour reservation covers one area. A four-hour reservation covers both. The two-hour tickets do not transfer between Webster Falls and Dundas Peak. One reservation is one vehicle, so two cars means two bookings. Reservations open nine days ahead and have to be finished the night before. There is no same-day, walk-up, or drive-up entry during the window. The blocks are rain or shine. The morning the booking window opens, and the fee, are on the FAQ. This guide does not copy the prices. Members still need a reservation during the window.

The authority suggests doing Dundas Peak and Tew Falls first, then driving to Webster Falls, because the Webster walk is the easier of the two. The four-hour product is that pair of lots. It is not a single hike along the gorge.

Parking, drop-off, and the streets around the lots

Park in the lot named on your reservation. Buses are not allowed in the Spencer Gorge lots, and tour operators cannot book during this window. Only personal bookings are accepted.

If a taxi or a rideshare is dropping you off, the FAQ says the drop-off is at the gatehouse. Walking in from the road is not permitted during the reservation window. The FAQ says a parking charge is still attached to the reservation and is sorted out at the gate. Read that answer before you assume someone arriving on foot pays nothing.

Do not park on the residential streets around Fallsview Road or Harvest Road. The September notice says municipal by-law staff patrol those neighbourhoods, including tow-away zones. The penalty is on that notice. Leave it there.

GO trains do serve Hamilton. The conservation authority does not run a shuttle from a GO station to either lot, and a Hamilton GO stop is not a trailhead. The last leg is a car, a taxi, or a rideshare to the gatehouse. Use GO's trip planner for the train, then the reservation FAQ for the drop-off. This page does not invent a bus from a station to the gorge.

On the trail

Stay on the trail. Fenced sections are closed, and the old routes to the bottom of the falls are closed and not maintained. There is no access to the base. Keep a body length back from the edge. Adults keep children and pets back from the edge. Dogs are allowed on a leash. Pack out what you carry in. Picnics and barbecues are not permitted at the gorge. The FAQ points a picnic to Christie Lake Conservation Area instead.

Most of the trails are packed earth on rugged ground and are not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers. The path from Tew Falls to Dundas Peak has a staircase. Webster Falls is the accessible exception the authority names: a paved trail and the Dobson-McKee lookout, plus two accessible parking spaces in the lot at 28 Fallsview Road.

What to skip

Skip the bottom of the gorge. Skip treating the two lots as one walk. Skip a plan that visits Webster in one part of the day and Tew in another on a single two-hour reservation. Skip street parking. Skip a same-day decision. If the reservation site is full, the day is full.

For the Niagara comparison, Tew's height is the authority's own line, and the guide to things to do near Niagara Falls, beyond the falls is the separate trip. Other days from Toronto are on the day-trips guide: Elora, Stratford, and Prince Edward County. The province hub is Ontario.

Season, cost, and access

Outside the posted window, the area page's older paragraph says first-come, sunrise to sunset. Inside the window, the reservation is the season that matters, and fall colour is why the cap exists. Cost is the reservation and admission schedule on the FAQ and the admissions page. Accessibility is concentrated at Webster Falls. Families can use the paved lookout. The staircase and the open edge at Dundas Peak are the parts to take seriously with children. There is no transit product that replaces the gatehouse drop-off.