These four waterfalls absolutely satisfied my craving for adventure this past weekend. One in particular truly took my breath away. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you which one it was down below. If you ever find yourself near the Courtenay/Comox area on Vancouver Island, definitely add these to your ‘Must Do’ list!
PRE-TRIP DETAILS + TIPS FOR A WICKED ADVENTURE!
HIKE EXPECTATIONS:
- We started our adventure further down Island and we were able to hit all four of these in one day!
- Whether it’s just you and your best furry friend or you’ve got some little ones along for the ride, these four spots are great. The shortest hike is about 2 minutes (literally) and the longest is about 15 minutes. We don’t have little ones ourselves but we saw lots of families with kidlets at each of these locations.
- Some of these locations don’t have guard rails so keep that in mind if you do have little ones or furry friends.
- A few of these spots have ropes to climb down but I’ll break down those details for you below.
WHAT TO PACK:
- Bring your swimming trunks! Some of these spots have perfect spots for a little dip! Fair warning, they’re pretty darn chilly!
- Also, water shoes will come in particularly handy at a few of these locations, if you have some, bring them!
- Definitely pack a picnic lunch because you’ll want to stay and enjoy at either waterfall number 2 or 3 to re-fuel and just take it all in! (My pick would be waterfall number two for sure!) I’m sure you lovely folks know this already, but please do remember to pack out what you bring in. These spots are such beautiful gems, so lets keep them that way!
If you’re curious about the photography gear I use on our adventures, keep reading and I’ll share the links with you down below!
Alright, ready to jump in? Let’s do this! Seriously though, we saw some cliff jumpers (including my adrenaline junky husband) at two of these incredible locations.
4 MUST SEE WATERFALLS ON VANCOUVER ISLAND
1. TRENT RIVER FALLS
This waterfall is so much fun to hike to and the reward at the end is jaw-droppingly beautiful.
GETTING HERE:
Punch in ‘Trent River Falls’ into Google Maps. It’s literally in there. But don’t follow Google’s directions at the end, follow these instead:
If coming from Nanaimo area, head north on Hwy 19, which is the Inland Island Highway. About 95 km in, you’ll want to start looking for a bridge called “Trent River.”
See the bridge? Great! Park on the north side of the highway just after crossing the bridge.
Voila, you’ve made it! Look for a trail (about 100 ft) after the bridge that heads down into the bushes and the adventure begins!
HIKE DETAILS:
This one is about a 15 minute hike with two sets of ropes to climb down at the bottom. We literally saw two people jogging down this slope without using the ropes… Meanwhile, I’m clinging to the ropes, climbing down at a turtle like pace. Oh so graceful!
Once you’ve reached the bottom, follow the sultry sound of the falls and seconds later be prepared for your jaw to drop!
Trent falls has a stunning turquoise blue plunge pool at the bottom so if you’ve brought your trunks, go for a dip! Or, you can be like that adrenaline junky Australian and take the 30 foot plunge into the pool. Yup, he jumped from the top of the falls!
There is a trail just to the left of the falls that leads you up (more ropes) to the top of the falls. My husband gave it a climb and was able to reach the top as you can see in the photo in the collection below. Just remember to use extreme caution as the rocks are slick!
Alright next up, we have Stotan Falls – the one that took my breath away! This one is my absolute favourite out of the bunch.
2. STOTAN FALLS
Very unfortunately, this waterfall is no longer accessible to the public so we’ll just have to admire this photo taken during a past adventure:
Here’s a few more favourites from our old Stotan Falls adventures:
Next one on the list is literally just across the highway, but I would highly recommend going in a 4×4 vehicle if you decide to drive all the way!
3. MEDICINE BOWLS
That’s my little hand, holding on for dear life. This place honestly feels like another world, a Jurassic world to be exact!
GETTING HERE:
This is an 8 km trip from Stotan Falls. There are two parking lot options. Use Lot A if you don’t have a 4×4 vehicle, trust me, you won’t make it! Use Lot B if you don’t mind hitting some really deep potholes!
Lot A: From Stotan Falls, head north on Duncan Bay Mainline Road for about 1.8 km and then take a left onto Forbidden Plateau Road.
Follow Forbidden Plateau Road for about 6 km until you see the entrance to Medicine Bowl Road. There’s a wide spot here to park.
From this point it’s about a 1.5 km hike to the trail head.
Lot B: Follow instructions to get to Lot A but keep on truckin into Medicine Bowl Road! Fair warning, the potholes here are deep so make sure your vehicle can handle it!
After about 1.5 km, you’ll come to an open area that has a bit of a roundabout with lots of room to park.
From here, get your good hiking shoes on, hop out of your vehicle, and look for a memorial plaque marking the start of the trail head.
HIKE DETAILS:
Very unfortunately, a few people have lost their lives while attempting to jump into the falls, which is what you’ll read on the memorial plaque. Although it’s beautiful, please do be very careful near the edges.
From here, it’s about a 10 minute hike down to the falls. Keep following the trail and you’ll eventually hear the rushing sound of the water!
The falls themselves are beautiful! There’s an area up above the falls where you can stop for a little picnic or if you carefully make your way down, there’s a rope swing that someone has fashioned onto a tree! Of course my husband tried it. You’ll see him in the collection below.
The colours of the water here are gorgeous! Just the most amazing turquoise blue.
The three falls mentioned above are more our type of adventure with no guard rails and very little signage. But this last waterfall, even though it’s more travelled, it’s incredibly spectacular to witness!
4. ELK FALLS
This beauty has a suspension bridge, a viewing platform and places to play on the rocks! Look how tiny these people are in the photo above! Hoohoo, I just love the sound of a thundering waterfall like this!
GETTING HERE:
Punch in Elk Falls into Google Maps and it will take you straight there, but just in case you have no reception while you’re at Medicine Bowls, maybe take these notes with you:
From the medicine bowls, head back on Forbidden Plateau Road until you come to a T-Intersection with Piercy Road. Take a left onto Piercy and then a right onto Highway 19 to continue north towards Elk Falls.
From Piercy road to Elk Falls is about a 47 km drive which should take about a half hour. I just love how all these falls are so close together!
HIKE DETAILS:
Just follow the trails from the parking lot! There’s a few different ones to explore but there’s signage all along the way.
You should be seeing the massive Elk Falls within about 10 minutes of the hike!
After you’ve seen the falls from the viewing platform and suspension bridge, try taking the trail around the falls as this will lead you to some rocks to play on. Just be careful not to get too close to the waterfall!
Check out these incredible views!:
There we have it, a day full of waterfall adventures! I hope you’ve enjoyed these little tips along the way. Have you ever been to any of these locations? Comment down below, I’d love to hear what your favourite part of the adventure was!
As promised, here’s some information on the camera gear I use in case you’re looking to capture your own travel adventures too! Also, I’ve broken down some pros and cons of more camera gear I use in my camera gear page, if that sort of things interests you. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day! Now go start planning your weekend adventure!