Cottonwood Falls Park — Attraction in Nelson

Cottingwood Falls Park located behind a small business area was a pure adventure to find..we began a walk at our hotel along Lakeside Drive then through the community of Nelson downtown area till we reached The Nelson Visitor Centre location and proceeded down Railway Street and Silica Street at which point we strolled past a small commercial store area and met the sign to enter Cottingwood Falls Park..I enjoyed the walk to get to this park area very much..the park has a very scenic waterfall viewed from different points of view, there is a Japanese Garden with nice pathways and seating and on the Saturday we visited a delightful Collingwood Saturday Market was happening..as noted in the details in the park description, The Izushi Friendship Society are stewards of this beautiful gem of a garden …benches are available throughout this beautiful garden and park space…we enjoyed the very interesting flower and...

This is a bit of a hidden gem. I went with my teens on a rainy day so perhaps that’s why it was so quiet! Nevertheless it’s easy for tourists to walk to although too far for most kids under 10 unless they are accustomed to long city walks. There is easy parking to be had. The history of the Japanese Garden is engaging and I took time to read all the signs. There is information about Nelson’s sister city and a friendship bridge. The waterfalls would be very exciting for younger children. My teens enjoyed exploring the area in their own way. We snapped some fun photos as well. We spent about an 40 minutes there. A picnic and nice weather could turn the park into a 1-2 hour event that would be relaxing, easy to get too, inexpensive and educational....

kind of an awkward place to get to in behind a commercial area ….. but wow…okay - wasn’t expecting that - i thought the falls might be a few drops and a set of rapids- no way - it’s a beautiful rocky set of falls with decent height and it comes out from underneath a stone arched bridge - very cool - full spring run off so it was raging - would like to see it in mid summer flow - probably very pretty …. rest of the park area was well kept and clean with nice flowers...