Hunlen Falls

Hunlen Falls is an airy plunging waterfall of 260 meters (855 feet) in height located at the mouth of Turner Lake within Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. The waters of Hunlen Creek exit the lake and almost immediately veil over a uniform lip, free-falling into a massive gaping canyon. Near the bottom of the falls, the water seems to conglomerate into an alcove within the alcove in the canyon, the mist of the falls swirling and dancing in such a way that the actual bottom of the falls seems to be perpetually obstructed from view no matter the conditions. Like Della Falls, another of BC's frequently cited waterfalls, the height of Hunlen Falls has been frequently debated. Topographic data and most government documentation supports a height of approximately 260 meters, though we have seen some sources citing the drop as being as much as 365 meters (1200 feet) or more. Any figures over (roughly) 275 meters have to be accounting for the total change in elevation between Turner Lake and the confluence of Hunlen Creek and the Atnarko River in the valley below, and the runout from the falls to the river below should not be counted as part of the falls.Mountain climbers referred to the falls as Mystery Falls in the 1930s and even earlier photographs have been seen with captions as Bella Coola Falls. The name Hunlen was formally adopted in 1947 for a local Indian Chief.