A Quick Stop To See Little Niagara Falls

A quick check of my blog the other day told me that it has been a little over three years since I last visited Little Niagara Falls in Goldstream Park.  Friday morning I had to make a quick run down to Costco and Best Buy so I made a quick pit stop in Goldstream and took the path to the falls – it’s only a 3 minute walk from the small parking area on the side of the highway.

Little Niagara in Goldstream Provincial Park is 150 ft. high

As close to the base of the Falls as I could safely get yesterday

Little Niagara Falls is beautiful to see at this time of year but it’s missed by a lot of visitors because it’s located across the highway from the main parking lot and the Goldstream River.  The river side attracts more visitors because of the Salmon Run, the Estuary Trails and for climbing enthusiasts – Mt. Finlayson.

Little Niagara Falls is 150 feet high – almost as high as its namesake on the Canada/USA border between Ontario and New York.  I guess the comparison stops there as little Niagara is mere yards wide in comparison to the massive size and power of the ‘real Niagara’.  Whoever named these falls here in Goldstream just seemed to be having some ‘name fun’.

August, 2009 – the culvert under the highway is bone dry

In the summer, the Niagara River is usually bone dry as shown by the photo above I took in August, 2009.  The culvert goes right under the Island Highway so when the river is dry it’s easy to walk from the main part of the park, through the culvert and then the final few hundred yards to the base of the falls.

December, 2012 – yesterday, it was a raging river in the culvert

From November through to early summer though, walking through the culvert is out of the question unless you have a death wish.  The photo above is one I took just yesterday and it shows pretty clearly just how full and fast the river is as it barrels through the culvert to join the Goldstream River on the other side of the highway.

The trail leading up to the base of Little Niagara Falls

After hiking as close to the base of the falls as I could get, and not falling in, I made my way back to the car to carry on first to Costco.  Costco was a complete zoo.  Every single till was manned yet the checkout lines were still 15 to 20 customers deep.  I picked up what I needed in about 5 minutes and then spent another 15 minutes in line waiting to pay. 

Next, I was off to Best Buy to try and collect a $30 price match refund.  If you remember, I bought an Epson Stylus NX530 printer at Best Buy last Sunday for $79 after they agreed to a price match from a Canadian online company.  Best Buy’s price for the same printer was $129 so I was thrilled with the deal for $79.

Early Friday morning, I received an email Paulette’s friend Claire telling me that Best Buy now had the exact same printer on sale for only $59!!  I took my receipt into Best Buy where they had no problem in refunding me the difference.  This is great – if things keep going the way they are soon this printer will be completely free!

Have a great Saturday, and thanks again for visiting!