Margaret Falls

From Highway 1 in Tappen, take the Sunneybrae Canoe Point Road east along Shuswap Lake for 11.5km to the signed parking area on the left side of the road. The falls are an easy 10 minute walk away.Margaret Falls is a two-stepped waterfall dropping about 90 feet at the head of a narrow, barren canyon within Herald Provincial Park near Shuswap Lake. The larger upper tier plunges in a narrow column of water but is largely obstructed from view by the shape of the canyon. The lower drop veils over the stratified bedrock walls in a very attractive display and features a cave behind the falling water which daring locals often enter through the curtain of falling water. Because of the popularity of Margaret Falls and the Reinecker Creek canyon the flora and foliage has largely been trampled to death along the creek and the soil has been so heavily compacted that many of the trees standing in the canyon have fallen against the canyon walls. The result is actually rather surreal in effect, resembling something one would expect to see in Disneyland or a video game more than in real life. As a result of the overuse of the area, barriers have been installed along the trail to restrict traffic to the trail itself.According to the BC Geonames database, the name Margaret Falls has been attached to the waterfall for over 100 years, likely dating back to the residence of the Reinecker homestead, but wasn't officially adopted until 1982. The name is said to have been that of the first white woman to see the falls (of course this probably impossible to verify).