What to do and see in Stoney Creek, Hamilton: The Best Things to do Good for Big Groups

One of the first houses to be built in Stoney Creek, Battlefield House was the home of the Gage family from 1796 until 1835. During these settlement years of the early 19th century, James and Mary Gage cleared and worked the land with their ten children and became well-known for their warm hospitality. The War of 1812 had a direct impact on the Gage family as they found themselves confined to their home when American soldiers occupied their land when a battle broke out during the early morning hours of June 6, 1813. The resulting British victory at the Battle of Stoney Creek was crucial in helping to prevent the Americans from seizing Upper Canada. Less than one hundred years later, in 1899, Sara Calder, grand-daughter of James and Mary Gage and first president of the Women's Wentworth Historical Society, led the purchase and preservation of the homestead. Further recognition of the significant event that took place on this property came in the year 1913, when the 100-foot tall Battlefield Monument was opened, standing as a symbol of peace and commemorating those soldiers who died at the Battle of Stoney Creek.

The Devil’s Punchbowl is one of the Niagara Escarpment’s most amazing sights, created at the end of the last ice age by huge melt-water rivers that plunged over the Stoney Creek Escarpment, thus carving the Punchbowl and gorge. From the bottom of the falls, one can see the many different coloured rock layers of the Escarpment. The Punchbowl is the only area where one can view such a large vertical display of Ordovician and Silurian stratified rock. Some of the layers include Queenston Formation red shale, Cabot Head grey shale, limestone and shale dolomite. There is a spectacular view of Stoney Creek and Hamilton Harbour from the lookout, not to mention the view down into the seemingly bottomless gorge.