Cheltenham Badlands

The site occupies an area of approximately 0.4 square kilometers and features exposed and highly eroded Queenston shale.

[2][3] The site is a Provincial Earth Sciences Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI) since it is considered one of the best examples of "badlands topography" in Ontario.

[7] The cold water stream, at the base of the badlands, is a tributary of the Credit River, which drains into Lake Ontario.

[citation needed] The Badlands is an exposed section of the Queenston Formation, which were created approximately 450 million years ago during the Middle and Late Ordovician periods.

[8] Over time, the erosion of these mountains resulted in the formation of the Queenston Delta,[11] which drained into the Michigan Basin.

[8] The deposition of mud eroded from the mountains during the Middle and Late Ordovician period formed the Queenston Shale.

[9] The continuous deposition of the mud and sand from the mountains extended the Queenston Delta further into the Michigan Basin; however, as the mountains continued to erode, less and less mud and sand reached the delta, resulting in the formation of inter-layered beds of sandstone, shale and limestone throughout the Silurian period.

[12] At the badlands site, glacial erosion of the overlaying sandstones and dolostones has caused the Queenston Formation to be the first layer of rock to underlie the soil.

The Cheltenham Badlands presents a unique opportunity to observe the Queenston Formation and the effects of land degradation and denudation processes.

[16] Additionally, the clay near the surface expands and contracts, due to variations in moisture and in temperature, which leads to further erosion.

The Cheltenham Badlands property was purchased for $500,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources in 2000 and placed under the Niagara Escarpment Parks and Open Spaces System.

[19] In July 2015 the Badlands were fenced off and closed to visitors; signs were erected marked "no trespassing", and the parking areas were changed to no-parking and tow-away zones.