Alexander Falls

Whistler, British Columbia, Canada

About Alexander Falls


Hiking Distance: roadside
Suggested Time:

Date first visited: 2017-08-01
Date last visited: 2017-08-01

Waterfall Latitude: 50.13559
Waterfall Longitude: -123.12816

Waterfall Safety and Common Sense

Alexander Falls surprised us with its size and volume as it was a waterfall that we hadn’t planned on visiting until I accidentally came across it while researching other waterfalls along the Sea to Sky Highway.

In fact, this waterfall wasn’t even along the highway, which explained why it was relatively obscure and not crowded at all.

Alexander_Falls_011_08012017 - Alexander Falls
Alexander Falls

Nonetheless, as you can see from the photo above, it more than held its own in the scenery department, and it was a blessing that our visit was as tranquil as it was.

Alexander Falls consisted of a trio of main tiers with a cumulative drop of about 43m on Madeley Creek, which itself was a tributary of Callaghan Creek (the watercourse giving rise to Callaghan Valley).

And since our visit was plagued by bad air quality as a result of the smoke from the unprecedented BC fires of 2017, it was also nice that the viewing area was right next to the large parking lot (see directions below).

The falls was near the Whistler Olympic Park, where they held a lot of the Nordic skiing events during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Alexander_Falls_001_08012017 - Context of the very easy-to-experience Alexander Falls
Context of the very easy-to-experience Alexander Falls

I had read that because of the infrastructure to make the venue easier to access, it also made Alexander Falls easy to access as well.

Prior to 2010, it was said that reaching the falls required driving on an out-of-the-way forest service road before hiking on a rough path to reach the viewpoint.

I guess in light of countries becoming economically unstable from spending a lot of resources to host an Olympics (e.g. Athens, Rio, and Sochi), this was one of the instances where hosting actually enhanced the overall infrastructure and financial windfall.

Authorities

Alexander Falls resides near Whistler in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It may be adminstered by the Resort Municipality of Whistler. For information or inquiries as well as current conditions, visit their website.

Alexander_Falls_007_08012017 - Taking advantage of the sturdy wooden railings to take long exposure photographs of Alexander Falls like this one during our August 2017 visit
Alexander_Falls_015_08012017 - Another contextual look at Alexander Falls with the lookout to my right
Alexander_Falls_024_08012017 - During our visit to Alexander Falls, we noticed some pretty wildflowers in bloom
Alexander_Falls_026_08012017 - More wildflowers in bloom near Alexander Falls


To reach Alexander Falls from downtown Vancouver, we could head east on the Route 7A towards the Hwy 1 going north then west, or we could take Route 1A through Stanley Park and the Lion’s Gate Bridge eventually joining up with the Hwy 1 going west.

We’d then drive on Hwy 1 through West Vancouver for about 11km before taking the Hwy 99 (Sea to Sky Highway) towards Whistler.

After about 88km on Hwy 99 (3km north of the turnoff for Brandywine Falls), we then turned left onto Callaghan Road.

Then, we followed Callaghan Road for a little over 9km to the signed turnoff on the left for Alexander Falls.

Overall, this drive was about 15 minutes beyond Brandywine Falls (or about 105 minutes from Vancouver).

Alexander_Falls_023_08012017 - Context of the parking lot and lookout for Alexander Falls
Context of the parking lot and lookout for Alexander Falls

Going in the other direction, Callaghan Road was about 15km southwest of Whistler on the Hwy 99 to the right.

Once on Callaghan Road, the last 15 minutes of the drive was as described above.

For some context, Vancouver was about 64km (under an hour drive) south of Squamish, and 229km (2.5 hours drive not counting the border crossing delays) north of Seattle, Washington, USA.

Find A Place To Stay

Sweep of Alexander Falls showing the lookout and car park as well as the falls itself from a couple of different spots

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Tagged with: whistler, squamish, lillooef, british columbia, sea to sky, waterfall, olympic village, vancouver



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Johnny Cheng

About Johnny Cheng

Johnny Cheng is the founder of the World of Waterfalls and author of the award-winning A Guide to New Zealand Waterfalls. Over the last 2 decades, he has visited thousands of waterfalls in over 40 countries around the world and nearly 40 states in the USA.
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