Lower Railroad Creek Falls

Take the Sea-to-Sky Highway (99) to the town of Pemberton, then at the stoplight (at the Petro Canada station) turn north onto Pemberton Meadows Road and proceed through town. In 0.8km bear left at the roundabout, cross the railroad tracks, go two blocks, then turn right at the T-intersection, still following Pemberton Meadows Road. Continue for another 23.6 kilometers, then turn right onto the Lillooet River Forest Service Road. Reset your odometer and prepare for a long, dusty drive. Continue for another 9 kilometers to the bridge over Railroad Creek and park along the road. The falls are visible through the trees from the road adjacent to the bridge, but will be obscured by the surrounding forest. Accessing the base of the falls, and obtaining an unobstructed view requires a short bushwhack up the left side of the creek. Expect to encounter thick brush (lots of Salmonberry, and areas of younger Douglas Fir trees along the creek with numerous eye-level needle-less branches waiting to poke passers by in the eye), and lots and lots of bugs.Lower Railroad Creek Falls is a small roadside waterfall found adjacent to the Lillooet River Forest Service Road northwest of the town of Pemberton in the upper Lillooet River valley. The falls drop approximately 6 meters over a small shelf, spreading outward as it falls into a small grotto. The creek below the falls is lined with small fir trees and the immediate surrounding forest is thick with brush which makes a close approach to the base of the falls not quite as quick and easy as it may first appear from the road. When we surveyed the falls in May of 2018, the spray being ejected from the falls also made a close approach prohibitive due to slick rocks, and the inability to take pictures without water spots. Later in the year it should be much easier to both get close and photograph.
Railroad Creek is a moderately large stream, draining from a basin approximately 21.5 square kilometers (about 8 square miles), however despite the size of its drainage basin, there is only one small lake at its headwaters, and no glaciers feeding into the stream at any point. The high elevation of the upper basin ensures a healthy winter snow pack will result in the creek swelling to significant size during the spring and early summer months, but by the end of summer the volume is likely to be considerably reduced - though as previously mentioned, this will likely make approaching the falls closely considerably easier.While we have not yet confirmed the presence of other waterfalls along Railroad Creek, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that there should be at least one other fall of significance further upstream, which prompted the use of the "Lower" prefix for this entry.