Location: For this one you will be starting by heading up Grouhel Rd in Ladysmith. If you are travelling from the north on highway 1 you’ll be taking a right hand turn if you are travelling from the south you will be taking a left. Grouhel Rd is located just before the 1st set of lights by the northern entrance of Ladysmith. Shortly after turning onto Grouhel Rd (less than a minute) is the turn onto Christy Rd. Once you reach Christy Rd you will travel all the way to the end turning left onto Arroyo Rd. Most of the times you will meet a gate at Arroyo Rd, if you don’t it means there are volunteers working at the fish hatchery by Christie Falls, if this is the case you will be able to drive almost right up to the first waterfall just don’t get stuck behind the gate when the volunteers leave.
Trail: By the steel bridge just before the Sportsmen Club Bush Creek Hatchery you will meet a well travelled trail which has no chance of letting you down. It is not too strenuous of a hike and boasts a series of awe-inspiring cascades surrounded by a lush temperate rain forest. This series of waterfalls will one by one surpass each other in height and glory. If there are volunteers working you may be able to drive the 2.5 Km would-be hike up a gravel road to the trail head. Once you reach the trail head, the walk to the greatest of the waterfalls and back is about 4 Km. It is well worth it to make your way along side the stream in some gum boots on the less travelled trail adjacent to the aforementioned trail to visit all of the falls viewing them from a different perspective. Although a warning I must advise is that if you decide to take this route it is very wet and there are many tripping hazards and obstacles maneuver changing this from an easy to intermediate trail.
Interesting Information: In 1900 James Dunsmuir, a British Columbian premiere and industrialist, named the town of Ladysmith in honor of the British forces ending a siege on the town of Ladysmith, South Africa during the Second Boer War. He also named many of the streets such as White Rd or Roberts St after famous British officers. He originally named the area Oyster Harbor in 1898, it was intended as a exportation port for coal and housing/recreation area for miners.
Bonus: If you have a group visiting the falls contact the Sportsmen Club. You may be able to gain access past the gate through a member with a key.
Vanislewaterfalls 