Upper Sanatorium Falls. Photo courtesy of Joe Hollick
Click to enlarge
Upper Sanatorium Falls, also known as Sanatorium
Falls, is located on a tributary of the Chedoke Creek system.
It is a Complex Ribbon Cascade with
a height of 9 metres (30 feet) and a width of 3 metres (10 feet).
This waterfall experiences impressive flow during during
seasonal storms and after the winter snow melt.
History
The Mountain Sanatorium was opened in 1906 for patients with
tuberculosis. It began with only two tents but soon small frame
cottages were built. Later, when the fresh air treatment for
TB patients was obsolete, brick and mortar hospital buildings
were built. During the First World War the Government of Canada
used the facility to treat soldiers who returned suffering from
TB and mustard gas afflictions.
At around this time there were concrete
steps on the west side of the falls and a bridge across the
top which led to a long series of wooden stairs
down the east side of the ravine to the Brantford and Hamilton
Electric Railway Company (radial) line. This enabled the hospital
staff and their families who lived on the hospital site to board
the radial train for schooling, shopping, etc. in the city. There
are still traces of concrete steps and abutments at the top
of the ravine and of concrete columns, which supported the stairs,
further down the ravine. (taken from Stephen
Head's information on the Hamilton Naturalist Club's website
on waterfalls).
Upper Sanatorium Falls is featured in the Joe Hollick poster "Waterfalls
of Hamilton Spring" with a side view.
How to get there
From Hwy 403, take the Aberdeen Ave. exit and follow Aberdeen
to Queen St. S. Turn right and follow it up the escarpment where
it will turn into Beckett Dr. and then Garth St. Turn right onto
Denlow Dr. Follow this road until it becomes Scenic Dr. Turn
right onto Sanatorium Rd. and follow it to the escarpment brow.
The waterfall is located at the mouth of the gorge.
To the right are two vintage postcards from the Hamilton Postcards
website. One shows Upper Sanatorium Falls in winter and
calls it Sanatorium Ravine. The second postcard calls it Ravine
Mountain Sanatorium and shows the waterfall in spring.
Upper Sanatorium Falls Photos
The photos below were sent in by David Wootton. click to
enlarge
Upper Sanatorium Falls Video
Chris Ecklund and Rose the webmistress visited Upper Sanatorium
Falls in mid-July 2008. Rose referred to it as 'Chedoke' by accident-
thanks to Joe Hollick for setting the record straight!
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