Frayne Falls

The Akolkolex Falls Recreation Site is found on the west side of the Akolkolex River bridge along the Akolkolex FSR, about 30km from the Revelstoke Airport - consult a map for detailed directions from Revelstoke. Once parked, follow poorly maintained paths a short distance from the road to the fences overlooking the forested canyon above the falls, but views will be lacking.The Akolkolex River dumps into Upper Arrow Lake in a series of significant waterfalls which have until now escaped much documentation. A hydroelectric facility currently owned by TransAlta operates at the falls, with the intake immediately upstream of the top of the gorge above Frayne Falls, so this allows speculation that the net head of the hydro project will reflect very accurately the size of the various falls within the canyon. The penstocks operate at 118 meters (387 feet) of head, but the way the falls are divided in the gorge, we’ve decided to split it into two entries. The upper part of the falls is historically known as Frayne Falls and consists of two plunging cataracts dropping a total of about 30 meters (100 feet) in height, with a sliding 6-meter cascade found just downstream of the main drop. The BC Forest service maintains the Akolkolex Falls Recreation Site here, though their definition of "maintains" seems to be a little light – as it looks like the site doesn't see a lot of traffic. Fences protect against falling at the rim of the gorge, but unfortunately there aren't any clear views of the falls to be had without dangerous scrambling into the canyon itself.Though the BC Forest Service signs seem to indicate this area collectively as Akolkolex Falls, the upper and lower sets of falls on the river are separated by enough distance that they should be considered two entirely separate sets of waterfalls. Compounding on this, we've come across photographs dating back to at least 1914 which label the upper falls on the river as Frayne Falls. We had previously listed this entry as Upper Akolkolex Falls.