Mamquam Falls

Mamquam Falls is located just outside of the city of Squamish. At the very south end of Squamish, turn east onto the Mamquam River Forest Service Road and follow it for 3.7 km, then turn left at the first major intersection and continue another 1.7 km to a BC Hydro gate and park in the large pullout and trailhead adjacent to the gate. Walk down the gated road to the bridge over the Mamquam River - the falls will be located immediately beneath the bridge. When BC Hydro crews are not working at the power house next to the falls, the secondary (chain link fence) gate just past the bridge may be open (likely only on weekends) which will allow for continuing down to a fenced viewpoint on the north side of the canyon which provides full and unobstructed views of the falls. When the gate is closed, a partially obstructed view of the falls can be seen from a viewpoint on the south side of the canyon by finding a short and fairly steep trail (no signs, but fairly obvious) which starts in the large pullout just before reaching the bridge.Mamquam Falls is presumably the largest waterfall which occurs along the Mamquam River. The falls plunge a sheer 19 meters (62 feet) into a cliff-ringed bowl at the end of a fairly impressive gorge, with a power house located adjacent to the bottom of the falls, and a concrete bridge directly above. Because the river has been regulated in a hydroelectric system, the falls are no longer anywhere near as impressive as they would be naturally, but the volume of the river should swell to near its natural volume during periods of prolonged rain in the winter months. Just downstream from the falls a small, possibly seasonal stream sprays into the river from the north over a small cascading type waterfall, which can be viewed in tandem with Mamquam Falls from the viewpoint on the south side of the river (see directions below).
The Mamquam River drains from a large area covering approximately 280 square kilometers (110 square miles). The majority of the volume of the river is sustained by the melt from the Bishop Glacier on the east flank of Mount Garibaldi, and the Mamquam Icefield located just to the east and across the valley. The river naturally flows with heavy volume all year long, but the aforementioned hydroelectric system captures a majority of the river at a dam approximately 3.7 km upstream from the falls, and then returns it to the river just downstream of the falls. There does seem to be a minimum volume of water allowed over the falls at all times (how much exactly is not known), however because of the wet climate in southern British Columbia, the river rarely seems to be reduced to that level for a prolonged period.