Inglis Falls

My own photos, featuring my dog Perry.

Last weekend I decided to get out of the city and back to nature... just over two hours drive later, I found myself at Inglis Falls in Owen Sound, Ontario.

"...Inglis Falls is an 18 metre high cascade, created by the Sydenham River meeting the edge of the Niagara Escarpment. The erosive power of the water has carved a deep gorge at the base of the falls." (Inglis Falls Conservation Area)

While the seeing the falls and hiking through the conservation area was very enjoyable (save for the few mosquito bites on my hands and legs), it was also fun to learn about the area's own beginnings as a Scottish settlement. In 1845 a Scotsman by the name of Peter Inglis purchased the 300 acre property (which included the falls and an unfinished grist mill that had been started by another Scotsman in 1842). Inglis' finished mill would become very successful, and he would eventually add to it a sawmill, a store, a house, and by the 1870s a wool mill. Inglis lived in his home with his wife and six children who went on to take over the family business. (OAP) The mills at Inglis Falls produced flour, bran, wool, and lumber for 87 years. (Visit Grey)

I would recommend a visit to Inglis Falls to anyone. Not only is it worth the drive, but the drive is worth the drive. Highways 10 and 6 are stunning in the summer with high rolling hills of forest and field, interspersed with small villages and late Victorian brick homes.

Sources
Grey Sauble Conservation, 2013, Inglis Falls Conservation Area
Conservation Ontario, 2012, Inglis Falls Conservation Area
OAP (Ontario Abandoned Places), Inglis Falls
Visit Grey, Inglis Falls

Further Reading
Niagara Escarpment Commission, 2014, Niagara Escarpment 
Canadian Encyclopedia, 2013, Glaciation