For the next installment in our ongoing Mythbusting series, we’re going to be addressing one particularly widespread misconception regarding the stature of Alberta’s Panther Falls.

Is Panther Falls 600 feet tall / the 4^th Tallest Waterfall in Canada?

Unlike our previous article in this series on Della Falls, we don’t have to go anywhere as far in depth to address these claims.  Let’s start with the origins of this idea.  During the earlier days of our researching waterfalls, we frequently came across mention of Panther Falls being 600 feet tall in Almanacs, Encyclopedias and other such reference materials, but very little tangible evidence was presented to back this up.  Likewise the Atlas of Canada has listed – and continues to list – Panther Falls as dropping 600 feet (183m).

Figure 1: Panther Falls, allegedly 600 feet tall

As we discussed in our Della Falls article, sources of information such as a governing body are usually treated as trusted and accurate, so in continuing to list Panther Falls at 600 feet tall, readers would understandably come to believe that this was accurate information.  Additionally, the Atlas of Canada presents Panther Falls as the fourth tallest waterfall on this list, and though they do make the distinction that said list is selected waterfalls of Canada rather than the tallest waterfalls of Canada, some observers may not understand the distinction that the Atlas of Canada list is not all-inclusive right away and as a result may assume it to be a complete and accurate list.

So where did this idea come from?  The answer is not nearly as obvious as we’d like.  Our best guess stems from a hand-tinted photograph taken in 1907 by one Mary Schaffer which shows what appears to be nearby Sideways Falls – which itself is much taller than Panther Falls – and labels it as “Panther Falls?”, though we cannot confirm that it is indeed Sideways Falls (we can confirm that it is not Panther Falls though).  Considering the first time we visited Sideways Falls we attributed it a height of around 600 feet, it’s not unreasonable that a visitor at some point thought that waterfall to be around 600 feet tall and was confused about its name at the time and reported it to be Panther Falls.  This is merely conjecture though, and considering other photographs taken by the same photographer and dated at the same year show the correct Panther Falls labeled as such, we will operate under the assumption that Panther Falls has always been correctly identified as being along Nigel Creek.

Fortunately this is one case where we don’t have to spend a lot of time examining the evidence and presenting a case where we cannot provide specifics.  Survey members from the World Waterfall Database have visited Panther Falls on three separate occasions and were able to accurately measure the falls to stand 218 feet (66m) tall, so the idea that Panther Falls is 600 feet tall is pretty clearly wrong.  What is more puzzling however is that topographic maps very clearly show the drop of Nigel Creek to be nowhere near the suggested 600 foot loss that has been touted in the past, so the ultimate question becomes how did this idea of a 600 foot drop come to subsist for so long?  Unfortunately we simply can’t answer that question.

Figure 2: 1:20,000 scale Topographic Map showing Panther Falls. Notice the contour lines are 40m intervals and clearly do not account for 183m worth of drop on Nigel Creek at Panther Falls

On to our second point of attack, we address the more obvious.  If the Atlas of Canada’s list is indeed selected waterfalls rather than the final word, then we simply need to double check that Panther Falls is not the 4^th tallest waterfall in Canada.  Well, as is plainly seen by looking at our list of Tallest Waterfalls in Canada, Panther Falls doesn’t even come close to 4^th tallest – right now it lands around 190^th tallest, and that’s with data for only two provinces available (when Quebec, Labrador & Newfoundland, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are added, expect its placement to drop considerably).  Right now we have 46 waterfalls inventoried at over 1,000 feet in height in Canada, and more will undoubtedly be added, so right there this claim is way, way off base.  Even if the original idea was that Panther Falls was the 4^th tallest free-falling waterfall in Canada, the criteria still doesn’t hold up for two reasons; 1) Panther Falls isn’t a free-fall of 600 feet, it’s a free-fall of just over 200 feet, and 2) if the name Panther Falls was originally meant to be applied to Sideways Falls, that waterfall is not free-falling either.  So pretty succinctly both of these ideas get tossed out the window.

Myth(s): Panther Falls is 600 feet tall and the 4^th tallest waterfall in Canada.

False (on both counts)

Like the previous claims we addressed regarding Della Falls being considered the tallest waterfall in Canada, the primary point of propagation of the claims surrounding Panther Falls seems to stem from information being disseminated by the Canadian Government.  Unfortunately we cannot determine with certainty the point of origin of their data, but it is pretty clear that their information is incorrect.  That no effort seems to have been taken to correct the error simply refutes the idea that a single source of information should not be viewed as accurate without proper evidence to back up the claims being made.

For another of our ongoing series, we will be focusing on myths and misconceptions about certain specific waterfalls or areas which pertain to our data posts.  Much of this information will have been covered in the Myths and Misconceptions page we used to have on the old version of the website, but that content has been paired down to address only broader subjects.  We felt it best to address discussions more focused on specific waterfalls here.

Our first post in this series, following the posting of our British Columbia data, will be addressing a very common claim made of BC’s Della Falls.

Is Della Falls the Tallest Waterfall in Canada?

First, lets address the core of the issue.  Della Falls stands 1,443 feet tall per the Atlas of Canada.  Nearly all of the information we have seen which perpetuates the idea that Della Falls is Canada’s tallest cite the Atlas of Canada as the definitive source.  Topographic data from multiple sources – including the Atlas of Canada – has thus far backed up the claimed height of 1,443 feet, so we have little reason to think the height of the falls is anything but (relatively) accurate.  What this means then is that, for this claim to be true, there should be no other waterfall in Canada which is taller than Della Falls.  The problem, however, is that there are.  Lots.  We have, at the time of posting, 22 waterfalls inventoried throughout Canada which stand at least 1,444 feet tall, and by the time we have all of our Canadian data posted, chances are that number will increase.

The first argument usually put up against debunking this myth is that Della Falls is a free-leaping waterfall and none of the other waterfalls which are taller than Della Falls are truly free-leaping, and hence shouldn’t count.  The biggest problem with this counter-argument is that Della Falls itself is not a free leaping waterfall.  In fact, Della Falls could be considered to be a waterfall of three distinct leaps.  It isn’t so much a traditional Tiered type waterfall in that there are not distinct pauses in between each of the three vertical portions of the falls, but there are “pauses” of sorts where the creek cascades steeply down bouldery substrate instead of over bedrock – either way, it certainly isn’t free falling.  This issue aside, the only truly free-leaping part of the falls is the uppermost 400 feet (approximately) of the drop, below there the creek retains some contact with the bedrock for the remaining descent.

Figure 1 - Topographic Overlays and the path of Della Falls

In Figure 1 above, topographic maps have been overlayed on the Google Earth imagery at Della Falls.  The yellow line is tracing the approximate path the falls take as they drop down the mountainside.  As you can see, the maps indicate the top of the falls to be around 1040m, and the base around 600m.  What is also pretty evident in this overlay is that the falls have a substantial run between the top and bottom – Della Creek flows something on the order of 1,200-1,300 lateral feet between the top of the falls and the bottom of the falls.  In Figures 2 and 3 below, we’ve marked five distinct points along the falls where the gradient transitions from steeper or in some cases a sheer vertical drop to less than vertical drops.

Figure 2 - Topographic Map of Della Falls

Figure 3 - Della Falls (Photo by Rob Dabal, license CC-BY-SA)

Point 1 marks the very top of the falls, at (approximate) elevation of 1,040m.  Point 2 marks the bottom of the initial and most vertical drop of the falls.  This point is approximately 460 feet below and 190 feet to the east of the top of the falls.  Point 3 marks the top of the second steep part of the falls, where the stream has split into two main channels.  Between points 2 and 3, the stream loses another 200 feet in elevation but flows laterally for 200 feet.  From Point 3 to Point 4, which represents the bottom of the second steep part of the falls, the stream loses about 530 feet in elevation while flowing laterally for about 460 feet.  From Point 4 to Point 5 in Figure 3 the stream flows about 230 feet laterally while losing only about 30 feet in elevation.  From Point 5 in the photo (Figure 3) to Point 5 on the map (Figure 2), the final drop of 200 vertical feet in 130 lateral feet takes place.  So, once again it looks like Della Falls does indeed fall 1,443 feet, but it does it in a run of over 1,200 feet – an average pitch of about 50 degrees, which can hardly be considered vertical.

Clearly Della isn’t a vertical waterfall and can’t be considered Canada’s tallest based on that criteria.  So, for the sake of argument lets address the claim that Della Falls is Canada’s tallest waterfall based on the idea that it is a single non-vertical waterfall of 1,443 feet in height.  What we now have to figure out is whether any of these 22 other waterfalls which we already know to be taller than Della Falls based on total height are in fact taller in one non-vertical drop.  Many of them are, in fact, multi-step non-vertical waterfalls which don’t meet the critieria right away.  Bedard Falls, Bush Mountain Falls and Storey Peak Falls, for example, all flume down the side of their respective mountains – in some places vertically, but mostly in multiple slides or cascades.  Others, such as Madden Falls and Michael Falls may drop vertically, but they do so over a series of steps which can’t be considered to be a single drop in even the most liberal of sense.

But whittling down the list, we find three candidates which do appear to legitimately oust Della Falls based on any claim made; Kingcome Valley Falls, Bishop Falls and Cerberus Falls.  The unofficially named Kingcome Valley Falls, deep within the coast mountains, drops some 1,700 feet off a nearly sheer bluff.  The drainage area is tiny and though it may flow for most of the year, it almost certainly runs dry at some point in the season and even at its best isn’t a waterfall of significant volume.  Certainly a taller waterfall, but for some perhaps not considered “significant” enough to be thought of as a legitimate waterfall.

Bishop Falls, found in the Taku River valley about 75km northeast of Juneau, Alaska, is a lofty fall of moderate to high volume (at least during the warmer months).  To the best of our knowledge, it hasn’t been measured by any group.  Our most conservative estimates place it to be around 1,450 feet in height, which puts it right around the size of Della Falls.  However we feel comfortable suggesting its true height may be closer to 1,600 feet when all is said and done.  Proving this, however, will necessitates on-site surveying.  We should also note that while Bishop Falls is technically classified as a single-drop waterfall, it does have a “step” of sorts about a third of the way down, but this step is of significantly smaller size than those that are present in Della Falls itself, so it should not be looked at as a disqualifier.

Cerberus Falls is found along Icefall Brook at the head of Icefall Canyon in the heart of the Canadian Rockies about 70km north of Golden, British Columbia.  We don’t have to second guess this one, because members of the World Waterfall Database surveyed and measured Cerberus Falls with both a laser rangefinder and GPS positioning in August of 2010.  We found the falls to stand 1,558 feet tall, possibly more depending on how a secondary stream parallel to the main falls proves to be influence by the source glacier.  Not only is this waterfall a full 100 feet taller than Della Falls, but it’s a nearly vertical, single drop of 1,558 feet.

So, in summary, yes Della Falls is as tall as it is claimed to be, but it is not a vertical waterfall so it cannot be considered to be the tallest vertical waterfall in Canada, and if Della Falls is to be considered a single-drop waterfall – which is debatable in itself – it cannot be considered the tallest single-drop waterfall because there are other single-drop waterfalls which are taller.  So, ultimately, Della Falls cannot be considered the tallest waterfall in Canada by any metric.

Myth:  Della Falls is the Tallest Waterfall in Canada.

False.

So why then has Della Falls been considered to be the tallest waterfall in Canada for so long?  The answer is simply publicity.  Della Falls was discovered in 1899 and was romanticized quickly by the tales of early visitors.  Strathcona Provincial Park, the first in British Columbia, was established shortly after in 1911 and the notoriety of the falls surely added to the reasons for protecting the area.  But on top of that is the fact that the falls lay on crown (government) land, and as a result the government has no doubt publicized information about the falls countless times.  This is significant because when quantifiable information – such as the height of mountains or waterfalls – is compiled, government entities are generally viewed as a reliable source.  So, if Della Falls was at one time thought to be the tallest waterfall in Canada according to the Canadian government, chances are that information simply propagated outwards from there without anyone thinking to fact check it because its ultimate source was thought to be accurate.  What’s funny is that any ordinary person knows just how inefficient and inaccurate any governing body can be.  Just goes to show that questions should always be asked, no matter the source of information.