Modern Travel - A day trip to Hamilton for waterfalls, fun and food

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Presented in partnership with The Heart Of Ontario.

With its increasing popularity, expanding food scene and built-in natural attractions, Hamilton is an ideal destination for a delightful day trip. It’s less than an hour from Mississauga and easily accessible, regardless of what direction and city you’re coming from.
While we usually take longer multi-day road trips, we decided it’d be good to mix things up and explore our proverbial backyard.
Our itinerary blends natural fun and a few fun food options to fill your day.

Outdoor adventures at Spencer Gorge

Governed by the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the Spencer Gorge location blends two attractions we experienced; Tew Falls and Dundas Peak. Webster Falls is also accessible but as we didn’t experience that this time, we’ll include it in a different travel article.

With Tew Falls flowing at 41 metres high, it’s surprisingly close to Niagara Falls’ 52 metre falls.
Upon entering the area and parking your car, Tew is your first stop and only a few minutes into your adventure.
Stay right and you’ll be led to the lookout platform revealing the majestic views of the falls and greenery ahead and to the right.
Whether it’s video or pictures, the views are serene and spectacular.
A bit of history: The falls are named after Johnson Tew who owned the property and the falls from 1874 to 1947. Tew held a number of political positions in the early 1900’s.
Tew Falls is formed via Logie’s Creek and cascades 41 metres over the escarpment.

Keep walking the relatively easy trail for approximately 30 minutes via the 1.8km loop and you’ll be rewarded with the truly magnificent views of Dundas Peak. There are a couple of portions that have a slight yet short incline along the way.
On clear days, Hamilton Harbour can be seen, along with Dundas and Ancaster immediately below and to the west. The explosion of vibrant autumn colours are postcard worthy and it’s easy to see why this is one of the most popular places for nature photography.

Keep taking the one-way trail to head back and you’ll be treated with a peaceful, tree-lined path filled with tranquility.

During our visit on October 19th, 2022, there was a paid reservation system in place:
Reservation fee: $10
Per vehicle: $10.50
Per person fee (under 5 is free): $5

For Steph and I, it was $30.50 and you cannot register the day of; it must be at least one day before.
While we understand the economics and logistics that brought about the fees, it’s a bit steep to charge per person and per vehicle on top of the reservation fee.

Food, food, food!

Here are the four spots we visited in order of appearance, all of which we’d go back to often.

Dyment’s Market & Bakery
Open seasonally, come here for fresh fruits and vegetables, delicious baked goods (Jay ate a whole pie and would do it again!) that are baked in-house, along with a selection of frozen goods and a welcoming atmosphere. Bonus points to stocking the coveted Covered Bridge Chips in a few flavours.

Detour coffee
With four locations, we chose the one in Dundas and coincidentally, it was their first location.
The shop itself is quaint and inviting with a letter-board on the left side housing their menu, seating on the left and merchandise on the right.
Whether it’s a cup of coffee, direct-trade coffee beans, or scrumptious snacks, you can enjoy Detour’s offerings via indoor or outdoor seating (weather dependant) or take your order to go as you explore the region and enjoy a road trip.

Beanermunky Chocolate
Diagonal from Detour is where we stumbled upon Beanermunky Chocolate, where chocolates and sweets are aplenty.
These artisan chocolates and confections are hand-made and fork-dipped for decadent treats.
You can see the process in action through the large window separating the kitchen from the store.
With something for nearly everyone, there are vegan, dairy free and gluten free options available.
Their selections include Sea Salted Turtles, Belgian Flats, Chocolate Barks, Chocolate Popcorn, Caramel Pretzels, Chocolate Oreos and Chocolate Dipped Bacon.

Planted in Hamilton
As the name suggests, Planted is a 100% plant-based, gluten-free restaurant & bakery.
From the friendly staff to the impressive selection of food and baked goods, its easy to see why Planted is popular.
Food selections include nachos, pulled jackfruit sandwiches, plant-based mac and cheese, eggplant fish and chips and much more. Their website says, “we're committed to making everything vegan, everything gluten-free, and everything awesome.”
I picked up a chocolate chip cookie and I truly couldn’t tell that it was gluten-free.
Steph came home with a strong selection of treats here…maybe their next location will be in Mississauga!

BakeHealthi Gluten Free Bakery
Tucked away in the corner of a strip mall is a must-experience gluten-free bakery.
As Steph surveyed all of the things she could eat, I chatted with the owner who was quite friendly and happy to share his story of how he opened in April of 2020 and has utilized creativity to stay in business.
There are breads, cakes, cupcakes, cookies, meat pies and more.
Direct quote from Steph on what she bought:
”Buns that were still warm and so good I ate them straight out of the bag, which I haven’t done since my pre-GF days. I also got the donut bar from Fairly Frosted and the empire cookie from Marci’s, the two other GF places in Hamilton he stocks from, which were also great.”

Bangkok Spoon Deluxe
Remember how Detour and Beanermunky were diagonal from each other?
Our dinner at Bangkok Spoon Deluxe was across the street from Beanermunky in downtown Dundas.
After a day of hiking with some treats sprinkled in between, a proper dinner here was a lovely way to wrap up our day.
The authentic Thai cuisine menu is extensive but if you know what your favourites are, chances are they’ll be here.
Me? I’ll often pick Pineapple Fried Rice (item R3 on this menu) and it was just as good as I expected.
Steph opted for a Pad Thai and came away happy.
We started off with Thai Fresh Rolls, which was a light yet appropriately filling choice to start our meals.
With stellar service and smart portion sizes, we’d easily come back.

The aforementioned didn’t feel rushed and we didn’t depart with a feeling we missed out on anything.
It was the right amount of activities for a day trip, and if you’re ambitious, you can swap a couple of food options out for additional waterfalls. Seeing as Hamilton is the waterfall capital of the world, you can’t flow…err, go wrong.

Our ride was the all-new 2022 Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which, for an entry-level trim, holds plenty of value, a smooth ride, the latest technology and a gateway into the luxury brand.
Stay tuned for our full review on it coming soon.

When you go, tag us in your posts and let us know how your experience was!
To expand on our itinerary and create yours, connect with The Heart Of Ontario.