Osprey Falls

Osprey Falls is found at the end of the Clearwater Valley Road in Wells Gray Provincial Park. The best views are from the Falls Creek picnic shelter, located in between the Falls Creek and Clearwater Lake campgrounds.In terms of square acreage, Osprey Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in British Columbia. Though the falls only stand 15 feet tall, the crest stretches 1200 feet from shore to shore. The falls occur at the outlet of Clearwater Lake, where the river dumps over a basalt flow which originated from the nearby Kostal Lake Volcano and blocked the flow of the river. As the impounded lake rose, the river punched through and spilled over the natural dam to form the falls. Because the lava flow forms cliffs along the Clearwater River for some distance below the falls and limits where overflow can go, when the river level rises in the summer its depth increases substantially. As a result the water backs up against the falls and essentially submerges it. This phenomena renders Osprey Falls a fairly uninteresting waterfall in the early part of the season, but by mid July, the falls usually are quite visible. Late in the year, gravel bars start to show up along the river, and the base of the falls can be accessed with a careful scramble down the short cliffs.The falls were originally named Clegara Falls, a name which stood official until 1983 when it was changed to its current title to reflect the preferred local usage, which stems from a Park Naturalist referring to nesting Osprey which could frequently be seen near the falls in the 1970s.