Alexander Falls

Alexander Falls Recreation Site is a great picnic spot beside a beautiful waterfall with a newly-built viewing platform. Located in the Callaghan Valley, it is the most accessible of the major waterfalls in the Whistler area, and it is possible to drive directly to the viewing platform year round. The area is dog-friendly and wheelchair accessible, and there are picnic tables and a large gravel parking area that is free to use. There are some educational signs teaching visitors about the history, current state, and future of logging and forestry in the region.

The falls are not as tall as Brandywine Falls down the road, nor are they as dramatic as the deep canyon landscape at Nairn Falls to the north, but the waterfall is impressive and beautiful nonetheless as Madeley Creek tumbles 43 meters down a 12 meter-wide rocky embankment in a nice forested area. There are three sections of the waterfall: a small drop at the top leads to a larger drop in the middle and then down to another ledge that protrudes a few meters above the base of the falls.

Historically the Callaghan Valley was an important site for the logging industry, but recently it has become a key wilderness recreation area in the Sea-to-Sky corridor, and it was designated and developed as such prior to the 2010 Olympics. A trip to Alexander Falls can be combined with a visit to the nordic venues at Whistler Olympic Park, a visit to Callaghan Lake or Madeley Lake, or possibly a hike to Ring Lake on the Rainbow-Madeley Trail or up to Brandywine Meadows. During winter there are great snowshoeing and cross-country skiing trails in Callaghan Provincial Park as well. Callaghan Creek is also one of Whistler’s classic Class V whitewater kayaking run and home to a downriver race every spring.