Decew Falls has long been a destination for tourists, and very descriptive historical accounts confirm that the Falls are just as beautiful today as they were over 165 years ago.

On August 20, 1860, a 19^th century historian, writer, engraver and traveler from the United States, Benjamin Lossing, made his way to Decew Falls. He wrote that the ‘Creek pours over a ledge of rocks, semicircular in form, into a wild ravine, in a perpendicular cascade of sixty feet [18 m]. He noted that the sides of the gorge were very precipitous and found it difficult and dangerous to make his way ‘into its wild depths’ to find a suitable spot to sketch the falls. He mentioned that further down, about a quarter of a mile [0.4 km] away, as the ravine grew deeper and darker, the stream plunged over another fall of thirty feet [9 m] and then poured ‘toward the plain covered with a dense forest.’

July 16, 1866, Mary Kelsey visiting from Michigan wrote: [Decew Falls] is one of the most splendid places I have ever seen…we sprang, walked and climbed until all of a sudden, on rounding a point, the falls burst forth on our enrapture sight.” She described lying dreamily on a rock, listening to the falls’ roar and feeling the spray on her face. Afterward, she and her cousins retraced their steps to a suitable bathing spot and enjoyed a simple picnic of cherry pie and cider by their wagon.

By the late 19th century, Decew Falls had become a popular natural attraction. An article from the Thorold Post published on May 6, 1881, praised its grandeur:

A recent walk to Decew Falls was amply repaid by the sight of these falls in their majesty of power. The volume of water rushing over was immense due to the canal levels being filled. The cascades below the falls were simply magnificent. It is a wonder that more people do not visit this work of nature. Unlike Niagara Falls, Decew Falls remains free, without the interference of extortionate hackmen or persistent touters for museums or hotels.

To provide easier access to the base of the Upper Decew Falls, Wilson Morningstar constructed a spiral staircase around a massive tree that extended from the ravine floor to top of the escarpment.  The staircase was in use from about 1890 to 1910 and tourists visiting the Falls could pay a fee to access it.

In the fall of 1894, a group of tourists from Toronto descended into the gorge after paying Emma Morningstar to use the staircase. A newspaper article from The Globe on Saturday, September 29, 1894, recounted the experience.

At Decew Falls…one raps at the door of a little, weather-boarded cottage on the bank. The door opens and a sweet-faced young woman comes forth with a key in her hand. “You wish to go down?” she asks, …a coin changes hands, a lock is turned, and you enter and descend and descend into semi-darkness. It is a spiral stairway which you follow, a little sandy and damp, and with lookouts cut at every second turn of the cylinder, through which one gazes with exclamations of wonder and delight.

Emerging into the open, at the foot [of the Falls], we looked up at the mighty Cliff which overhangs…the surplus water from the canal which has swollen the original Creek falls shear 75 feet [23 m] before it bounds down a wonderful ravine…

Descending to the head of the second fall, we looked up and down the narrow valley. The mighty trees touched brows over the torrent, and the sunlight struck through the interstices and brightened the swirl of the waters…The fall has a dip of 40 feet [12 m] or more over a wall that looks like solid masonry…The second descent is almost inaccessible, but great resolution brought us finally to our desired point of rest. Here…we lingered through the last hours of our long happy day sitting on the great boulders, chin in hand, moving our eyes with the current.

Today, both the Lower and Upper Decew Falls remain mesmerizing and hazardous to access. Due to the frequent rescues required in the gorge and its designated status as a protected area home to endangered flora and fauna, access to the gorge and falls is now prohibited. Visitors are expected to stay on the marked trails to ensure their safety and to help preserve the area’s natural habitat.

Carla Mackie is Historical Services Coordinator with the City of St. Catharines. Historical Services includes the Morningstar Mill, the Lakeside Park Carousel, and the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre.