Helmcken Falls is a 141 m
waterfall on the Murtle River within Wells Gray Provincial Park in British
Columbia, Canada. The protection of Helmcken Falls was one of the reasons for
the creation of Wells Gray Provincial Park in 1939.
Helmcken Falls
is the Fourth Highest waterfall in Canada, Measured by total straight drop
without a break.Higher Canadian waterfalls are Hunlen Falls in Tweedsmuir
Provincial Park, Takakkaw Falls in Yoho
National Park, and Della Falls in Strathcona
Provincial Park, all in British Columbia.
There are
six other waterfalls on the Murtle River, upstream from Helmcken Falls. The
others are The Mushbowl,Dawson Falls, Majerus Falls, Horseshoe Falls, Meadow Falls, and McDougall Falls. Only Helmcken, The Mushbowl and Dawson can be
reached by road. Majerus, Horseshoe and McDougall Falls are accessed by trails
. Meadow Falls is very difficult to view, except by air.
The Canadian
Pacific Railway surveyors in the 1870s passed to the north and made no
mention of seeing the falls. Credit for discovering Helmcken Falls goes to
Robert Henry Lee (1859-1935), a land surveyor working for the British Columbia
government. In 1911, Lee was awarded a four-year contract to survey lands in
the North Thompson and Clearwater Valleys. By 1913, he was working south of the
Murtle River laying out lots for homesteaders.
Access and Trails
A short paved side road from
the main Wells Gray Park road leads to Helmcken Falls. A viewing platform on
the rim of the canyon provides a panorama of the falls and canyon. Brink Trail: A 4-km long trail starts
near Dawson Falls and follows the south bank of the
Murtle River to the brink of Helmcken Falls. This walk takes about an hour.
There are no fences at the end of this trail so caution is important,
especially with children and pets.
Helmcken
Canyon: A 30-minute walk west from the main viewpoint follows the rim of
Helmcken Canyon to an overlook of the meeting of the Murtle and Clearwater
Rivers, about 250 m (820 ft) below.
Bottom
of Helmcken Falls route: Continuing past the above
overlook, the trail deteriorates into a strenuous scrambling route which
descends into Helmcken Canyon, then follows the Murtle River to the bottom of
the falls. This takes about four hours each way.
Gattling
Gorge trail: Gattling Gorge is the narrowest point of the
Clearwater River, about 20 m (66 ft) across. It is at the head of
Helmcken Canyon, upstream from the confluence with the Murtle River. A trail
from the main Helmcken Falls viewpoint accesses this gorge but signage is poor.
It takes about an hour to walk.
Winter Viewing
Most tourists see Helmcken
Falls in summer. A winter visit is worthwhile because the ice cone at the base
often grows to 50 m tall and sometimes even higher in very cold snowy winters.
It has occasionally been seen reaching halfway up the falls. The best time to
view the ice cone is from late January to the end of February.
The cone
collapses inward sometime during March and some remnants are still visible in
June. The road is plowed and sanded in winter and volunteers maintain the
trails. Snow tires are essential and tire chains are recommended as a safety
precaution. A network of cross-country ski trails starts near Dawson Falls, but
there has been no grooming or tracking since the winter of 2011-12.
Formation
Helmcken Falls drops over
the western escarpment of the Murtle Plateau. This huge lava deposit in the Wells
Gray-Clearwater volcanic field was erupted
from nearby fissures starting 200,000 years ago and filled the wide valley of
the Clearwater River. Layer upon layer of fresh lava created the plateau, then
enormous floods eroded the lava at the close of the last ice age, about 10,000 years
ago. These floods created Helmcken Canyon below the falls
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