Water Falls of Victoria

Many hikes and camping trips are best in the summer months of warm, dry weather. However, in Victoria with its temperate climate and lack of snow, hiking is a year-round activity, and some of its attractions are at their best in the wet months of fall and winter. This is especially true of the many waterfalls in the area. There a many of posts that tell you about the waterfalls to visit during the summer– but this is likely to be disappointing as many of the creeks are reduced to a small trickle in the summer months. The waterfalls of this area are at their most spectacular when fall rains swell the volumes of water in their cascades. Falls which dwindle to a mere dribble in August are raging torrents in November.

So, as winter approaches in Victoria, it’s time to find a waterproof jacket and a pair of water-resistant boots with good tread and strike out to discover the beauty of the local waterfalls.

Niagara in Goldstream Park

One of the best-known waterfalls in the area is surprisingly private and unvisited, largely because it is on the side of Highway 1 right at the beginning of the Malahat drive, and entering the small pullout parking area is complicated, if not downright dangerous. Getting to the waterfall from Victoria involves driving through Goldstream Park and continuing seven kilometers north to where a U-turn route allows you to change direction and come back south to the parking pullout. This maneuver is not for the faint of heart. The traffic is heavy and fast moving, and the pull-out is small, unmarked and close to one of the most accident-prone stretches of the highway – locally know as Dead Man’s Curve.

However, once you have parked, the rest is easy. A wide trail follows Niagara Creek through a steep canyon for about 250 meters to the waterfall. How close you can get depends on the volume of water in the creek. In the summer, when the creek bed is dry, it’s possible to walk right up to the plunge pool, but in fall and winter, we trade access to the falls for the sight of the volume of water that drops nearly fifty meters down the canyon wall.

After visiting the bottom of the falls and returning to the parking area, you can cross the bridge that spans the creek (stay well over to the side and watch the cars on the highway!). On this side you can access the trial that leads up the canyon to the top of the falls. The trial is steep and requires some scrambling. The trail crosses the bridge over the creek above the falls, and if you want to keep climbing, the trail comes out at the old Goldstream trestle of the E&N Railway. The railway is no longer in use and the bridge is decommissioned and considered hazardous to cross, but it’s still an amazing sight.