Wells Gray Provincial Park Hiking in Winter.

Wells Gray Park in winter is a pretty remote area, it is also pretty remote in summer I have heard but in winter it was something else. We spent two days there during this winter and saw one other person the entire time. The roads were icy and snow chains were needed. The hikes to the various waterfalls were far harder than they would have been with a few feet less snow. But the experience and the sights were mind-blowing!

Waterfalls, bridges and snow covered everything was what we saw for the whole drive.

Getting there

So getting to Wells Gray in winter was an experience. After the snow plow went through we figured we would be all good but we must have both just missed the trees that fell across the road. It took about 30-45 minutes of digging and pulling with the car before we were actually able to pass but it was kind of fun. The main issue was the tree was so long and the snow so deep that there was too much weight to just pull it so we had to try and dig enough room down the whole of one side of the trunk to give it room to move. I had never had to do anything like that before. I just wish it had not have been minus 23 for my first time.

There is just one road you follow north out of Clearwater. The drive is littered with different waterfalls but not everything was accessible to us in the middle of winter and especially not after one of their biggest snowstorms in about 10 years. Snow chains were necessary and if you’re smart I would probably take a tow rope. As you can see we needed ours.

If you’re looking for things to do while you’re getting there then this post about driving from Vancouver to Banff might be super helpful

Things to do in Wells Gray Provincial Park in winter.

There is a massive amount of winter activities in Wells Gray Park but we personally stuck to the waterfalls and the hiking trails. We would have loved to have had skis but they just don’t fit in our van along with our surfboards and everything else.

We couldn’t see much of Dawson falls but it was still pretty cool!

Waterfalls in Wells Gray Park.

We started with Dawson Falls. It was super cool but probably the least spectacular at this time of year. The hike was also probably the longest and we had to deal with the deepest snow. The falls were almost completely frozen and running mostly under the ice so it made it a little hard to photograph but they were still beautiful. We also saw a few little squirrels and other cute things running around in the trees.

I was completely obsessed with snow covered trees! Still am.

Helmcken Falls in Winter

Helmcken Falls was the second waterfall we visited and for me personally the most amazing. The Helmcken Falls hike is super short from the car park to the viewpoint maybe 5 minutes max and that is if you are taking your time. I had never seen water do the things it was doing here before. The top of the falls had frozen out over the edge of the cliff and was creating some kind of tunnel. At the bottom of Helmcken falls was this giant reverse ice volcano thing (I am sure it has a technical name but I have no idea what). The falls themselves were massive standing at 141 meters. One of the reasons for the creation of Wells Gray was apparently the protection of Helmcken Falls. So if you don’t feel like walking through the snow then Helmcken Falls in winter is by far the easiest option.

Helmcken Falls is the picture in the header but as you can see the drive was also crazy.

Spahats Falls in Winter

Spahats Creek Falls was the last spot we visited in Wells Gray Park, due to the sheer amount of snow some of the other spots were not really accessible. The Spahats falls hike was 1-2 kilometers depending on the vantage point you wanted and the snow was kind of deep but not so bad that you really wanted to give up at any time. There had been a massive snowstorm 2 days before we arrived though so it was probably a little worse than normal. Anyhow Spahats in winter was mind-blowing. The falls themselves had almost completely frozen creating this 75-80 meter ice straw that the water just flowed through, not to mention it comes out of this massively deep canyon that is just cut into the cliff. The Spahats canyon would have been impressive enough but coupled with natural ice sculptures and flowing water we stayed for a few hours until the cold started to penetrate our bones.

Still can’t get over the ice straw with water running through it.

Overall.

This part of the world was full of mind-blowing beauty. The drive was amazing, the waterfalls were on some kind of other level and the hikes despite the deep snow were also incredible. There was a serious lack of people there as well which I found strange considering its proximity to Jasper and Vancouver. People seem to think it is too far out of the way. I didn’t get this impression but if you want uncrowded jaw-dropping nature with minimum people then this is probably for you. It is also fairly easily accessible.

The roads were so mind blowing to me I was super happy there was no traffic because we pulled over about 100 times to take photos.It was also pretty windy at times…

You can follow this link to see the journey into the beginning of our trip living in a van in winter in Canada. http://holidayfromwhere.com/living-van-life-vanlife/