Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park, British Columbia

Something I love about road trips, especially those that involve less than 300 miles a day of driving (and therefore some spare time), is the search and rescue for hidden jewels.  Treasure Hunts!

The little parks, quirky shops, interesting wineries, and other things that will rarely find their way onto Trip Advisor or Lonely Planet are well worth searching out.  On our first day out on our first real vacation since COVID-19 rudely took over our lives, we found one of those hidden jewels just east of Chilliwack, British Columbia. 

Not far off the Trans-Canada Highway, a nondescript road previewed by an equally nondescript sign suggested that we might want to turn right toward the park.  Graced by a gas station that had seen better days on one side of the road and a myriad of litter on the other side, we turned right onto a strip of pavement whose ability to hold two lanes of traffic was highly questionable.  

Once we turned left into the park, all that was marginal about this little, poorly signed road in British Columbia fell away as we entered a remarkably well kept parking lot, a picnic area, and a more than adequate suite of immaculate portable toilets that put many American parks to shame.  

I had no time to even begin a critical analysis of American vs. Canadian parks as we began our walk through a beautiful temperate forest that rivaled those on the Olympic peninsula.

Only fifteen minutes of walking left us at the foot of Bridal Veil Falls.  Even at the end of the drought of a western summer, Bridal Veil still hosted a swath of water falling hundreds of feet over delicate moss covered rock into an unseen pool beneath our field of view.  There was no roar of a massive volume of water hurling itself off the edge of a cliff, but more of a delicate symphony as water misted relentlessly down over the rocks.  It certainly wasn't the biggest, widest, or loudest waterfall in North America, but these falls were totally memorable in part because we were alone at the foot of the falls and in part because the falls were simply unusually delicate despite the high volume of water flow they hosted.   

Bridal Veil reminded me of the value of road trips that involve fewer miles per day, time to wander off the beaten path, and precious opportunities to find hidden jewels.