Virginia Falls

The only feasible means of visiting the park is by chartering a flight from either Fort Simpson or Fort Liard on a float plane. There is a waterdrome just above the falls. From this point, the falls are a short hike south.Virginia Falls is a massive waterfall that slides down a long stretch of mighty rapids and short drops then splits around a massive 400 foot tall spire of lime stone known as Mason's Rock. The south segment of the falls drops 294 feet to the river below, while the north segment slides steeply down to a bend, then falls about 170 feet to rejoin the south segment in the river below. The falls are frequently cited as being 317 feet in height, but the NRCanada Topographical Maps are clear in their height figure, 294 feet. At any rate, the falls aren't compromised by a missing 23 feet of height. The falls are better than 800 feet in width and the face of the falls is spans nearly 4 acres in surface area.The name Na'ili Cho means "big water falling down" in the native language of the Dene, the indigenous inhabitants of the area. The name Virginia Falls is derived from Virginia Hunter, daughter of Fenley Hunter, who explored the region in 1928 for the Geological Survey of Canada. The name Mahoney Falls came from early settlers of the Yukon, but was never in common use to the best of our knowledge.