After a fantastic day hiking to see the wildflowers in Trophy Meadows, I spent 2 nights camping at Clearwater Lake Campsite in Wells Gray Provincial Park. As discussed in my previous post, Wells Gray is a popular park, both among locals and tourists. It’s particularly well known for its many waterfalls, as well as its paddling. The goal for our second day in the park was to see as many waterfalls as possible. Some of the waterfalls in the park are easily accessible from viewpoints off the main road, while others require hiking to visit. 

Below I’ve compiled a list of all the waterfalls we visited, as well as a few other notable waterfalls. We only had one day to see as many waterfalls as possible, so you can see a lot of waterfalls in a single day trip. It’s ~1 hour to drive from Clearwater town to Clearwater Lake, which can be spread out across the day. Even though we started our trip from Clearwater Lake, I’m going to start this list from Clearwater Town, outlining all the stops you can make as you drive further into the park. That way, if you only have one day, you can turn around at any point. 

Triple Decker and Candle Creek Falls

These two waterfalls are not actually located in Wells Gray, but they’re along the main road and only 5km from Clearwater town, so they’re easy to visit. Triple Decker Falls is located right off the highway and is ~1km round trip to hike down to the viewpoint. Candle Creek Falls is located 2km down the Candle Creek trail, so it does involve a bit more hiking to see this waterfall (4km round trip). I didn’t actually visit either of these waterfalls, but I included them due to their proximity to town!

Spahats Creek Falls

Spahats Creek Falls is located at the south end of Wells Gray Park, only 10km from Clearwater town. It’s one of the more popular waterfalls in the Park and very easy to visit. There’s a large parking lot with bathroom facilities and a very well developed viewing platform that allows you to see the waterfall both from alongside it, and from across the canyon (the better view). I’m pretty sure the viewing platform is wheelchair accessible. Over time, the raging waterfall has greatly eroded the canyon walls and the waterfall now plunges 60m down through the valley. I did like this waterfall, but it’s very similar to the iconic Helmcken Falls – so given the choice, prioritize that one instead.

Silvertip Falls

This is one of the more challenging waterfalls to visit because the road access is very poor. The trailhead should always be accessible by 4×4, high clearance vehicles, otherwise, check about the condition of the road at the visitor centre. To access, you drive down Spahats Creek FSR, which is located just past Spahats Creek Falls. The trailhead is located at Silvertip Falls Rec Site. It’s a 500m walk to the viewpoint, but it is all uphill. This is one of the tallest waterfalls in the park, but it’s not a continuous waterfall, it cascades down along the mountainside, so the trail can be quite wet. I haven’t actually visited this waterfall, but it is one of the notable ones in the park.

Moul Falls

This is my personal favourite waterfall in the park. It is one of the longer hikes on this list to access the falls, but the reward is well worth it! The trail is located just off the main road, 20km from Clearwater town. It’s ~6km round trip to visit the waterfall, but it’s a fairly easy trail through the forest until you get to the waterfall. There’s a viewing platform at the top of Moul Falls, but the real treat is walking down a large set of stairs to get to the base of the waterfall. From there, you can actually follow a non-official trail that goes behind the waterfall to the other side of the pool. There is definitely risk associated with this since the spray of the falls leaves the trail very wet, so exercise caution. Otherwise, it’s such a cool experience!

Dawson Falls

Dawson Falls is another fun waterfall. It’s not as memorable as Moul Falls or Helmcken Falls, as it feels like more of an extension of the Murtle River, but I still thought it was really beautiful. Park at the Dawson Falls parking lot, located 40km from Clearwater town, and then walk ~500m along an easy, flat trail to see the waterfall. There’s a preliminary viewpoint, followed by a viewing platform on top of the falls. If you follow some of the small trails along the edge of the platform, you can walk down to river level to look up at the falls. I liked this one because it’s really a series of stepped waterfalls and I thought it was unique. Plus it’s quick to visit, so definitely worth it!

Mushbowl

The Mushbowl is less of a waterfall and more of a water feature. It’s located just past Dawson Falls and can be viewed as you cross the bridge over the Murtle River. There’s no viewpoint for this one, so just drive slow and enjoy the view of the raging rapids from the car!

Helmcken Falls

Without a doubt, Helmcken Falls is the most popular waterfall in the park. It’s very well marketed by the province and it gets a lot of visitors every year. It’s the 4th tallest waterfall in BC and is often featured on “most beautiful waterfalls in Canada” lists. It’s a striking waterfall that cascades over the edge of an eroded canyon to the valley below. There’s a huge viewing platform that is located right next to the parking lot and I’m fairly certain it is wheelchair accessible. If you want more of a workout, there is an 8km round trip trail on the south side of the river that hikes to a viewpoint of the waterfall on the opposite side. It’s called the Rim Trail. We opted not to do this one because of the time commitment, but enjoyed the view from the main viewing platform.

Bailey’s Chute, Marcus Falls, and Myanth Falls

Similar to Dawson Falls and the Mushbowl, there’s a series of small waterfalls and water features located along the Clearwater River. The trailhead is located 55km from Clearwater town and if you want to visit all 3 highlights, it’s a 5km round trip hike through the forest. We visited Bailey’s Chute and Marcus Falls, which aren’t far from the trailhead, but decided to skip Myanth Falls in the interest of time. Personally, I actually quite liked Bailey’s Chute, we even saw a salmon jumping upstream while we were there, so I think this would be a fun place to visit during the salmon run. Otherwise, Marcus Falls is a smaller waterfall than most others in the park.

Osprey Falls

Osprey Falls is located at the very end of the road, at the foot of Clearwater Lake, where the campsite is located. On its own, it’s less impressive than most of the waterfalls in the park, but is still a cool experience if you want to visit the lake. There are lots of boat tours that leave from the campsite and go up Clearwater Lake, so if you have the time, I’m sure it’s a neat experience. Osprey Falls is really just where the lake meets the river. For me, the most impressive part was just looking at the speed and volume of water cascading out of the lake. It’s located 65km from Clearwater town, so check it out if you’re visiting the lake anyways, otherwise, you could probably skip it.

There are countless other waterfalls that are accessible either by other park roads or by boat, but for this list I have just focused on the waterfalls along the main road from Clearwater town to Clearwater Lake. I definitely hope to return to this park again in the future with my kayak, but if you just have a day or two, enjoy the waterfalls on this list! Finish your day with a trip to Hop and Hog, which is a delicious restaurant in Clearwater focused heavily on beer (hop) and meat (hog).