Slope Cascades occur where the creek or river simply tumbles (or rumbles) down the side of a rocky hill. They occur on hard crystalline rocks with irregular fractures.

This is one of the most common types of waterfall in Ontario. They only occur in the Canadian Shield area; softer, layered rocks in southern Ontario result in different forms.

Since glaciation left Ontario just over 10,000 years ago, these waterfalls are very immature. The hard rock has limited the amount of erosion. This is why many slope cascades don't have much of a gorge.

Historically, I used the term 'cascade' as a 'catch-all' phrase for many different waterfalls. The fourth edition of the 'Waterfalls of Ontario' book divided this into slope cascades, trough waterfalls and barrier cascades.

For this edition of the website, I also added the "notch cascade" type. I'm toying with the idea of a "bowl cascade", but not sure that it is easily defineable. Further research and consideration may reveal other types.

The slope cascade shape blends into rock rapids. While it might be possible to define a height or slope threshold between the two, I've kept it subjective for now.