rearguard falls provincial park

Unfortunately, we were too late in the season to see the Salmon jumping but despite that we still thought this place immensely worthy of a visit. There is a decent sized pull in off highway 16 and the falls are well signposted (more from the North than from the South where we needed a u-turn) and the pathway to the falls is clearly signed. It is a little steep in places but if you can manage stairs then you should be able to manage this walk. takes less than ten minutes to get down there and the authorities have attempted to control the damage of the tourists by building special platforms and asking you to keep to them. They are not the most picturesque things in the world but they are practical in adverse weather and because they run with the contours of the land they do afford you spectacular views of the different aspects of the falls.Quite a lot of fallen wood around as well and that sometimes spoils the shot but with all the forests around what can you expect. we also took a little offshoot just above the platform and that gave a good view of the river before the trees closed in again but do take care because you are actually standing atop a sheer drop and one wrong foot could have you in difficulty.Anyway give yourself a good half hour to discover river level and I would allow a good hour and a bit for the full visit but do make the effort and I hope you will think it is worth it.

Rearguard Falls is just off Highway 16. It is well marked and the trail is easy to follow down to the falls. The falls are noted for the fact that they are the upper limit of the 800 mile migration of Chinook salmon from the Pacific ocean. The trail has one spur that takes you to a view of the entire falls while the main trail takes you to an overlook right over the falls. It is a short hike that could be made by young and old.

A with Lars K review, we witnessed salmon leaping up the falls. the best time we were told was early evening, so we were there around 6pm. We witnessed quite a few, and it really is incredible. We made a special trip from Jasper to watch them and it was well worth the drive. Obviously you can only do this during the migrating season, but if you re lucky enough to in the area around this time you would be mad to miss it. Mother Nature at her best.

Easy trail, nice viewing area, and great falls. Unfortunately, we didn't see any salmon. Maybe we were too early. We were there on August 7th.

We stopped off here en route to other places and were so glad we did! It is an amazing waterfall but best of all we saw the few salmon that manage to get this far jumping up (or attempting to!) in the waterfalls. Once in a lifetime stuff! Excellent.

If you want to see lots of salmon jumping a fall, this is the place (at least on August 23th, 2014). I was informed that this is the place were the largest salmon in the world (chinook) try to jump the falls. It is truly awesome to see them jump again and again. According to several locals, the best time seems to be around 7 pm. We went there and stayed for an hour and I think we saw jumping salmon every minute. We were also there in the morning around 9 am but did not see any then. But also if you do not see any salmon the falls are worth a stop. It is only a couple of minutes down to the falls from the parking lot and there a exit signs on the roadway marking the parking lot so you will have a hard time to miss it. If you are in the area between mid August and early September ask at the visitor information center where the salmon are at the moment so you don't miss them. If you happen to see none, another good spot is the creek near the information center in Valemount which is nearby if travelling by car.

On a recent trip through the interior of British Columbia, we stopped in a rural rest area and I got to talking to a fellow traveler about where we had been and where we were going.l I was east bound and he was west bound, and he recommended stopping at a waterfall up the road a ways and he gave me some strange name for it, but said,"Salmon don't go any further up the Fraser River than here!" Okay told the wife, and off we went. We had the wrong name, but there was a sign so off we went to see the falls.These falls are absolutely awesome! They are well worth the time. The trail is relatively easy and the viewing areas are very comfortable.