Waterdown-Sassafrass Woods Heritage Lands

The Waterdown-Sassafras Woods Heritage Lands comprise 800 ha of land located in an area extending generally from Waterdown Road to Brant Street in the City of Burlington and from Highway 403 north to Mountain Brow Road and Dundas Street in the City of Hamilton. Of the 800 ha, 446 ha (or 56%) are currently owned and managed by Partner organizations (Figure 2). The majority of the Current EcoPark System Lands are owned by the City of Burlington (247 ha), with smaller areas owned by Conservation Halton (158 ha), Halton Region (30 ha) and Bruce Trail Conservancy (11 ha). The Heritage Lands are situated along the escarpment brow in Halton Region, and include lands along several escarpment tributaries (i.e., Bridgeview Tributaries, Falcon Creek, Indian Creek, Upper Hager Creek and Upper Rambo Creek). Within the Heritage Lands, the Bruce Trail traverses lands owned by the Bruce Trail Conservancy, other partner lands by agreement, etc.

Existing land uses within and adjacent to the Heritage Lands include agriculture, industrial (including active and inactive clay and shale quarries), two closed landfill sites (the former Regional landfill east of Falcon Creek, and Bayview Park/Indian Creek), a golf course, city parks, rural residential, and suburban developments. Waterdown extends to the north of the Heritage Lands, with additional approved development occurring just north of the Heritage Lands. The Tyandaga and Brant Hills suburban residential areas are located amongst the southeast portion of the Heritage Lands. A number of utilities and infrastructure bisect the Waterdown-Sassafras Woods Heritage Lands including three hydro rights-of-way, King Road and Kerns Road.