I hiked an unofficial trail today in Banff National Park which I previously didn’t know about, and stumbled upon this amazing waterfall and landscape feature. Has anyone else ever seen this? It was truly a remarkable discovery.
It’s about a 20-minute walk from a main road with one steep section which descends to the Cascade River(it’s reduced to a trickle because it’s below the dam). Upon arriving at the river bed, the only thing that’s noticeable is a lovely waterfall in the distance. Upon closer inspection, however, there is this incredible “wall” of porous rock with caves and waterfalls.
I’m standing on a rock in the middle of a very low Cascade River in Banff National Park
I’m not positive where the water is coming from, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the whole thing is spring fed. I crossed the creek and walked up the embankment and it looked like a maze of springs. I didn’t get anywhere near high enough to see the source of water for the really tall waterfall.
Chuck…why did I know you’d be the one to recognize this? We accessed it from the Lake Minnewanka road and the trail was quite easy and safe. The trail starts on the south side of the road, exactly at the spot where we ski into the meadow when doing Cascade valley. It’s 750 metres south of the Lake Minnewanka parking lot. Obviously, if accessing it from Two Jack, you’d be at the top of the falls.
Lovely! Does it look like the tufa at Big Hill Spring east of Cochrane?