Kinuseo Falls

June 12, 2009
Kinuseo Falls, Monkman Provincial Park, BC

Today, Rod, Bob, and I made the interesting trip from our spot in Dawson Creek to Kinuseo Falls and back. This falls is higher (although not quite as mighty) as Niagara but completely the opposite in terms of location. If you've ever been to Niagara Falls (US and/or Canadian Side), you know that it's a popular tourist destination. Kinuseo - not so much. First, you drive 98km from Dawson Creek to Tumbler Ridge, a coal-mining town of about 4,000 people (now that the mines are open again); we saw about 10 other vehicles on this route. Then you drive 40km on a gravel road that's full of potholes and gets worse as you go along until you get to Monkman Provincial Park (you know you're there because of the sign that says so, nothing else). We saw one vehicle pass us in the other direction on this leg. Then you pull up to a parking area with two pits, four picnic tables and a trash can with a sign that says "take your own trash back out with you". The lot was empty when we arrived, although three other groups showed up as we were leaving. Very isolated.

The reward for all this? You get to stand next to the Murray River (not to be confused with the famous one in Australia, or even the one on PEI) as it cascades 60 metres over a cliff in a wonderful display. There are three viewing points, of which we sampled two. The first is the top of the falls, a short flat hike of less than 200 metres to a viewing platform. Nice, but you can only see (and feel) the water going over, not the full falls. Next we hiked the 250 metre trail to the "upper overlook. I'm no hiking expert, but I think we may have experienced 250 metres of elevation gain, not distance - it was a steep trail. The view from there was quite spectacular and many photos were taken. Across the river, the cliffs have been eroded to show the results of the volcanic uplifting that created this area's topography. Many layers are standing almost upright, and some were even curled into a circle by the force. We looked at the trail to the remaining viewpoint, but decided that the 1.25km walk to the river level below (starting out paradoxically with more climbing), might not be the best for us to tackle. So, back to the Rover and back to Dawson Creek we went, getting back around 4 PM. A full and satisfying day.