Buried Ravine

You are standing where a river once flowed. Before the last glacial period some 14000 years ago a waterway made its way to Lake Iroqois (now Lake Ontario) creating an equally deep ravine through the Queenston shale. When the Wisconsin Glacier receded it filled this ravine with gravel, sand and silt which eventually hardened into cemented till. The meltwater then carved a new path for the creek exposing a cross section of the old ravine.

The impermeable Queenston Shale funneled rainwater to the cemented till which would allow some water to percolate through the gravel. This constant flow of water eventually created a cave, which at the time the park was established (1973-1975) was noted that it was likely not to last much longer as the structure was frail. The cave has since collapsed and is no longer accessible.

One reason why Bronte Creek Provincial Park was established: The Bronte Creek valley corridor is designated as a provincially significant life science resource. It is the least disturbed and most continuous river valley system on the southward sloping shale plains north of Lake Ontario.

Little Known Fact: Following the unsuccessful Upper Canada Rebellion in 1837, William Lyon Mackenzie, the leader of the rebellion, fled to the United States. As he fled, he hid briefly in a cave on the farm, on the banks of Twelve-Mile Creek (known today as Bronte Creek) in Oakville.