Grindstone Creek (Hamilton Harbour)

Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is headquartered in Burlington owning extensive environmental protection areas, historic sites and culturally relevant gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara Falls and Toronto, as well as a significant local and regional horticultural, education, conservation, and scientific resource. The mandate is derived by a Provincial Act of 1941 centred on human interaction with the natural world and protection of environmentally significant lands that form the western tip of Lake Ontario. Royal Botanical Gardens spans an area of about 10 km by 4 km, dominated by two coastal wetlands, and glacial-carved landscapes that extend from the lake up to the Niagara Escarpment plateau. The various gardens and natural areas are accessed through nine public entrance locations. It is one of several Prescribed Public Bodies listed under the Ontario Heritage Act. In 2006, in support of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Royal Botanical Gardens was selected as Canada's National Focal Point for the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) by Environment and Climate Change Canada.The 980 hectares (2,422 acres) of nature sanctuary owned by the Royal Botanical Gardens is largely a remnant of the Dundas Marsh Game Preserve created in 1927. The properties now carry many cultural and environmental designations. Multiple national historic site features are associated with area, with the site featuring prominently as a landing and connection point to other regions of the Great Lakes. It is considered an important plant biodiversity hotspot for Canada, with a very high proportion of the wild plants of Canada in one area; is an Important Bird Area according to Bird Studies Canada; and is part of the Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere Reserve. More than 1,100 species of plants grow within its boundaries including the Bashful Bulrush (Trichophorum planifolium) which is found nowhere else in Canada, and the largest remaining population of one of Canada's most endangered trees, the Red Mulberry (Morus rubra). Both of these plants are listed as Endangered in Canada under the Species at Risk Act. In 2008, the RBG was designated as an Important Amphibian and Reptile Area by CARCNET, the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network. Several plants listed on various Endangered Species Protection programs are held for protection and education purposes in various garden areas. Unusually Royal Botanical Gardens is both the owner of the land under Cootes Paradise and Grindstone Marsh as well as regulator of activities on the water, despite it being an inlet of Lake Ontario. Water area activity regulation was formerly under the Hamilton Harbour Commission (Now Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority) as part of the areas historical federal port regulation. In the late 1970s the Harbour Commission and Royal Botanical Gardens made an agreement transferring regulation of use of the water area to the Gardens in support of its environmental protection mandate. However, Royal Botanical Gardens has no regulatory control over the quality of water flowing into its wetlands.

Bayview Junction is a major railway junction in southern Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of three of the nation's busiest rail lines and is a popular location for railfans and trainspotters. Located at the western end of Lake Ontario, this wye junction draws its name from the view of Burlington Bay (Hamilton Harbour) to the east. Bayview Junction is located in the city of Hamilton, immediately adjacent to its boundary with the city of Burlington. The railway lines bisect the property of the Royal Botanical Gardens, providing a picturesque setting.

The Desjardins Canal disaster was a rail transport disaster near Hamilton, Canada West. The train wreck occurred at 6:15 p.m. on March 12, 1857 (1857-03-12) when a train on the Great Western Railway crashed through a bridge over the Desjardins Canal, causing the train and its passengers to fall 18 metres (60 ft) into the ice below. With 59 deaths, it is considered one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history.

Hamilton Cemetery on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario is the oldest, public burial ground in the city of Hamilton. It is located on Burlington Heights, a high sand- and gravel isthmus that separates Hamilton's harbor on the east from Cootes Paradise on the west. Historically, the cemetery consists of three, separate burial grounds over 100 acres: Burlington Heights Cemetery, the Christ Church Grounds, and the Church of Ascension Grounds. It has been a contentious issue whether a flood, around the 1860s inundated the city, necessitating the re-collecting of gravestones to be amassed in one place. From 1850 until 1892, each burial ground was administered separately, but by the beginning of the 1890s, the church wardens were encountering difficulty paying for the maintenance-and upkeep of their areas of the grounds. In 1892, an agreement with the City of Hamilton who assumed responsibility for all the grounds, which were renamed "Hamilton Cemetery".

Burlington Heights refers to a promontory or area of flat land sitting elevated (at about 100 metres (330 ft)) above the west end of Hamilton Harbour in the city of Hamilton, Ontario which continues as a peninsula to the north toward the city of Burlington, Ontario. It separates Cootes Paradise Marsh on the west from the harbor on the east. Geologically the Burlington Heights is a sand and gravel bar formed across the eastern end of the Dundas Valley by Glacial Lake Iroquois. It is the northern continuation of the longer Iroquois Bar which extends south into Hamilton. Burlington Heights is traversed by York Boulevard. In the south, extensive parkland surrounds Dundurn Castle on the east side of the road and the large Hamilton Cemetery on the west side. North of Dundurn Castle a city park is named for Sir John Harvey. The southern portion of the Burlington Heights was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1929, because of its strategic and military importance to the British during the War of 1812. Dundurn Castle was later designated as a National Historic Site in its own right in 1984. Royal Botanical Gardens is another National Historic Site adjacent to the Burlington Heights National Historic Site. Royal Botanical Gardens owns and manages the properties on the Burlington Heights peninsula north of the Desjardins Canal.

Princess Point is located in the south east corner of Cootes Paradise marsh in Hamilton, Ontario, and is the principal access point to the surrounding natural areas. The property is part of the Cootes Paradise Nature Sanctuary owned and managed by the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG). The low waterside peninsula has made Princess Point a natural gathering place for people for thousands of years. Archeological discoveries have indicated that between 1000 and 800 AD the Middle Woodland Culture brought agriculture in the form of corn production to the region. The discovery of this has given rise to the term the Princess Point Complex, referring to this archeological group of native people that cover a large region of eastern North America. The current parking area was created in the 1950s by the RBG through substantial infilling of the marshland, and for several decades the area was manicured parkland. The site has never been farmed and so a number of unusual species of oak trees remain. The site continues to be used as an archeological field school in a collaboration between the RBG and the University of Toronto. The site provides both canoe access to Cootes Paradise and starting point for the waterfront and natural trails of the area.

Dundurn Castle is a historic neoclassical mansion on York Boulevard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The 1,700-square-metre (18,000 sq ft) house took three years and $175,000 to build, and was completed in 1835. The forty room castle featured the latest conveniences of gas lighting and running water. It is currently owned by the City of Hamilton, which purchased it in 1899 or 1900 for $50,000. The City has spent nearly $3 million renovating the site to make it open to the public. The rooms have been restored to the year 1855 when its owner Sir Allan Napier MacNab, 1st Baronet, was at the height of his career. Costumed interpreters guide visitors through the home, illustrating daily life from the 1850s. The Duchess of Cornwall, a descendant of Sir Allan MacNab, is the Royal Patron of Dundurn Castle.

Bayfront Park is a 16-hectare (40-acre) park found in the West-end of Hamilton Harbour in the North End neighbourhood of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Over $9 million transformed formerly vacant land into a versatile green space, with 1,800 metres (5,906 ft) of shoreline integrating fish habitat, native vegetation and facilities. The park is the site of a variety of summer festivals and concerts. A protected sandy beach and a 6-metre (20 ft) wide trail circles the park. Other important features of the park include: a public boat launch, fishing opportunities, a 250 space parking lot, and pedestrian and bicycle trails leading to Pier 4 Park. Nearby attractions include the Harbour West Marina Complex, Macassa Bay Yacht Club, Pier 4 Park, Pier 8, HHC Sailing School and the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club.

The Strathcona neighbourhood is located west of downtown Hamilton, Ontario, and is bounded by Highway 403, the CNR rail line, Queen Street, York Boulevard and Main Street. The neighbourhood is also intersected by several other major street arteries: Dundurn Street, Locke Street, and King Street West. As of the 2016 Census, Strathcona has a population of 6,555, up from 5,800 in the 1996 Census.Victoria Park, at the corners of Locke and King, is a central feature in this largely residential neighbourhood. Dundurn Park, on the north edge of the neighbourhood, is located at the junction of York Boulevard and Dundurn Street.

Pier 4 Park is a 2.4 hectare park found in the west-end of Hamilton Harbour near Bay Street North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The park features a multi-use asphalt trail, 349 metres in length and 4 metres wide which provides barrier-free access to all areas of the park and linkages with the surrounding harbourfront precinct. A total of $2.2 million has been invested for the redevelopment of the park which includes a 24-metre tugboat which acts as the centrepiece of an interactive water play area for children. A dramatically curved lookout pier includes a protected sun shelter and benches to view the marinas, parkland and vistas of the surrounding Bay. In addition Hamilton Harbour Commissioners (HHC) have constructed Hamilton Pier which provides 0.4 hectares of additional parkland and fish habitat. Nearby attractions include the Harbour West Marina Complex, Macassa Bay Yacht Club, Pier 8, Bayfront Park, HHC Sailing School and the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club.

Cootes Paradise is a property of the Royal Botanical Gardens at the western end of Lake Ontario, and a remnant of the larger 3700 acre Dundas Marsh Crown Game Preserve established by the Province of Ontario in 1927. It is a 600 hectare environmental protection and education area, dominated by a 4.5km long rivermouth wetland, representing the lake's western terminus. It is found on the west side of Hamilton Harbour and is located in the municipality of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The area is owned and managed by Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG), a charitable organization established in 1941 by the Government of Ontario. The wetland/marsh is part of the Cootes Paradise Nature Reserve, with these lands representing 99% of the unaltered lands along the local Lake Ontario shoreline (~25km). The site carries multiple designations, including a National Historic Site, a Nationally Important Bird Area (IBA), and is also central to inspiring the local principles for the World World Biosphere program. Within the regions local Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere, it is unique as the only point of physical connection with Lake Ontario. The marsh has also been referred to as the Dundas Marsh, a product of its surveyed location largely within the boundary of the former town of Dundas, and highlighted in conservation efforts initiated in the 1860s. Unusually, Royal Botanical Gardens is both the owner of the land under Cootes Paradise Marsh as well as regulator of activities on the water, despite it being an inlet of Lake Ontario. Water area activity regulation was formerly under the Hamilton Harbour Commission (now Hamilton Oshawa Port Authority) as part of the area's historical federal port regulation. In the late 1970s, the Harbour Commission and Royal Botanical Gardens made an agreement transferring regulation of use of the water/ice area to the Gardens' in support of the environmental protection mandate. However, Royal Botanical Gardens has no regulatory ability for the condition of water quality flowing into the marsh.

The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club (RHYC) is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, at the west end of Lake Ontario, and has been in existence since 1888. When the yacht club first opened, it was located on the Burlington Canal (near the light station), along the beach strip that separates Burlington Bay from Lake Ontario. It later moved to the foot of Bay Street. Since its founding in 1888, RHYC has promoted local and international yacht racing. Its current general manager is Katrina Lewis. The original Letters Patent, dated 30 May 1891, identifies the purpose of the Club's founding: "To establish and maintain a Club as a Corporation having for its objects the encouragement of Yacht building and Yacht sailing and racing on Ontario waters by the name of "The Royal Hamilton Yacht Club" the said club have been permitted by Us to assume the Style of 'Royal'..." The unique climatic, geographic, and hydrographic qualities provided by Burlington Bay give The Club one of the longest sailing seasons in central Canada. The club has won several Ontario Sailing Association awards in recent years, including Regatta of the Year (2002, 2007) and several Youth Performance Ranking Trophies.