Meadow Falls is one of seven waterfalls on the
Murtle River
The Murtle River is a river in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It rises from a large unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains at an elevation of and flows southwest for to the head of gigantic Murtle Lake. The river also drains Murtle Lake ...
west of
Murtle Lake
Murtle Lake is a lava dammed lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is fed primarily by the Murtle River which rises from a large unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains at an elevation of and flo ...
in
Wells Gray Provincial Park
Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres (524,990 hectares or ...
, east-central British Columbia, Canada.
Meadow Falls is high.
[Neave, Roland (2015). ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'', 6th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. .]
The waterfall was discovered by
Joseph Hunter, a surveyor working for the future Canadian Pacific Railway, on May 26, 1874. Hunter did not name the falls, but he did name the Murtle River and
Murtle Lake
Murtle Lake is a lava dammed lake located in Wells Gray Provincial Park, east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is fed primarily by the Murtle River which rises from a large unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains at an elevation of and flo ...
for his birthplace in Scotland, Milton of Murtle, near Aberdeen. The Meadow Falls name refers to nearby marshes along the otherwise slow-moving Murtle River, a section known as The Stillwater.
Visitors to Meadow Falls are rare because there is no road or trail access and the nearby marshes make cross-country travel difficult. The nearest trail ends at
Horseshoe Falls
Horseshoe Falls is the largest of the three waterfalls that collectively form Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border. Approximately 90% of the Niagara River, after diversions for hydropower generation, flows ...
, downstream. During the 1950s and 1960s, hunting parties led by guide Thorbjorn "Ted" Helset used the Stillwater Trail which reached the Murtle River above Meadow Falls, but that trail is now overgrown and impassable.
References
{{coord, 52, 04, 00, N, 119, 59, 00, W, display=title
Waterfalls of British Columbia
Wells Gray-Clearwater
Kamloops Division Yale Land District