Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park — Attraction in Area F (Alberni Highway)

This is a story of strength, determination and perseverance of the strongest woman I know. All movie rights are owned by me. A lovely afternoon hike to the lower falls turned into a near death experience. Ok, it was only an ankle twist but the scream let out on the way to the ground was the best Wilhelm scream I have heard to date. I expected the worst.

The rock (antagonist) protruded out of the ground at such an angle that my wife (protagonist) stood little chance. Her ankle collapsed immediately upon contact and the following was like a controlled demolition taking place right before my eyes. One ankle down, then an almost catch and re stabilization, only to have that ankle fail spectacularly. The whole house of cards began to wobble and crash, down to the knees, then elbows and finally wrists. Like a Transformer getting ready to transform and roll out, she crumpled and folded until she hit the ground with a thud. The sound effects I got were more groaning and swearing, than the cool Autobot rollout sounds that took place in my head. It all happened in slow motion.

Like all great stories, she survived, managed to overcome the pain/fear and slowly transformed back to her human form. A light dusting later and we triumphantly carried on to our destination. Not going to lie, I thought we might have to turn back. Not my wife, she won't let a little broken ankle get in the way of a vacation view of waterfalls. Not today, walk it off. I think they should cast Hillary Swank. I'll obviously be played by...

First time visiting these falls and we brought along a few visiting family members. Was very happy to see a very active set of falls as I know July can be hit and miss. I’m sure these falls would be spectacular in early spring or mid winter. The only reason for not 5/5 is in regard to accessibility. I’m not talking having expectations for bringing a wheelchair or stroller, but maintenance on someone for the stairs. In several cases the first step is quite tall due to general wear and erosion of the soil at the bottom of the steps. This made it difficult for one of our party. The other minor issue is lack of signage indicating accessibility issues or difficulty. The grades/steepness of some of the trail made it difficult for some of our party to navigate. If you have mobility issues (but do not require a wheelchair) be prepared for potentially needing assistance in a few places along the trail.

However, having said the above, the difficulties were worth it to see the falls. We plan...

I liked this park very much. In a phrase, it's a mess of lovely, little waterfalls scattered around some nice forest trails. I had a lot of fun hiking along the waterways and photographing the different views. I also saw people playing near the water (though the posted signs do warn against swimming, certainly because of the sharp rocks in the stream).

My only complaint is that, for whatever reason, if you just keep following the trail along the water, it takes you back to the main parking lot through a local campsite...which is fine but does make for a slightly awkward walk back uphill (I also didn't want to bother the campers, though no one seemed to mind). For this reason, I saw that some of the people would either go to different trails or turn back after a while. Either way, there are a lot of nice trails to choose from.

I highly recommend this park for a casual hike or even a...