About Helmcken Falls
Helmcken Falls was probably the most famous of the waterfalls that we saw in the Wells Gray Provincial Park. It seemed like tour buses would routinely stop here and offload their busloads of people thereby crowding the viewing deck and picnic area. I guess the reason for its popularity was that it had a 141m cumulative drop over two distinct tiers. I had read somewhere that this was said to be the 4th tallest waterfall in Canada.
Since the waterfall was on the Murtle River, it would also flow year-round with a volume that we wouldn’t often see in waterfalls this tall. Because it would have the same volume as Dawson Falls as they shared the same river, we could imagine that waterfall squeezed into a chute before ejecting itself over the long drop. Thus, we could appreciate its volume punctuated by its height.
During our visit in September 2010, we had to contend with bad weather. At least the heavy rains were sort of off-and-on at the time so we could linger at the viewing deck without getting drenched.
However, the thing that really tested our patience was the relentless fog that stubbornly stayed around the gorge between the viewing deck and the falls itself. In fact, the first time we saw it at mid-morning, it was totally foggy. We actually left to visit Dawson Falls before coming back. So after an hour or so later, the falls started showing itself albeit grudgingly (as evidenced by the photo you see at the top of this page).
The walk to the falls was practically negligible as it was perhaps less than five minutes from the official car park. Sometimes, tour buses would drop off their folks at a pullout that was even closer to the picnic area and viewing deck.
To my knowledge, there was no official way to get closer and to the bottom of Helmcken Falls. However, we did notice a signpost on the drive to the overlook indicating a Helmcken Rim Trail. Since we didn’t do it, we can’t really say where it would go and whether it would provide a different yet worthwhile viewing experience altogether.
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