Lower Tangle Falls

This waterfall is accessible from Tangle Falls, about 6 ½ kilometers north of the Columbia Icefields Center and about a kilometer south of the Stutfield Glacier viewpoint along the Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park. Park at the lower parking area and follow the creek until you see the top of the falls. Carefully pick your way down the slopes adjacent until you reach the old roadbed. You may have to down climb 5-10 feet of what borders on a cliff to reach the old road, but it isn’t too difficult as long as you have both hands free.Lower Tangle Falls occurs shortly downstream of the Icefields Parkway from its much more popular roadside counterpart. The creek runs parallel to the road and the parking area for about 200 feet, then turns left and drops over a 30 foot outcropping to cross the abandoned roadbed of the old Banff-Jasper Highway. From there is cascades an additional 25 feet in a series of potholes. Between the two tiers, the creek flows over a chunk of concrete that was part of either a bridge or a antiquated culvert system on the old highway. The road on either side of the creek is quite obvious and can be followed in either direction for views over the canyon below, but slides in the canyon which destroyed the road and forced its rerouting in the 1950s prevent a complete loop from being achievable. There are a couple of fine little pools in between various tiers of the falls for taking a dip (no room to actually swim), and because very few people actually know of this waterfall - despite its ease of access - chances are you will be alone.