Waterfalls of British Columbia

Reviewed by Bryan Swan

The Canadian province of British Columbia may, all things said and done, have the highest concentration of waterfalls on the planet. The extremely rugged landscape coupled with high rainfall and thousands of glaciers produce so many waterfalls that keeping track of them all its a task in itself, let alone creating a guidebook. But surprisingly, until 2009 there had been no guidebook ever published on the subject of BC's waterfalls - largely due to the fact that there has not ever been thorough documentation of BC's waterfalls. Well there is now.

Author Tony Greenfield started his project 13 years before publication only to slowly find that producing a guidebook to all the waterfalls in the province was more or less impossible, so he pared it down to the 100 Best, and he did it in a pretty bang up job. This book documents Greenfield's choices for the 100 best waterfalls British Columbia has to offer, complete with exceptional directions and all the nitty gritty details necessary for planning a visit. The writing is superb and done in such a way that you almost feel as if you've been there already by the time you actually visit.

Now, with any "best of" list, the content is usually subjective from the author's standpoint and there may be preferential disagreements as a result. As an avid waterfall hunter who has spent quite a bit of time in British Columbia, many of the waterfalls included in this book I don't feel deserve to be considered among the Top 100. Left out are falls such as Cascade Falls in Mission, Crooked and Madden Falls (though both do get mentioned) in the Squamish Valley, Silvertip Falls in Wells Gray Provincial Park and Akolkolex Falls near Revelstoke, among literally hundreds of others which should be considered over some of the small falls in the book such as Vancouver Island's Stamp Falls, Hamilton Falls in Yoho National Park or Moricetown Falls near Smithers. The author of such a project is of course entitled to his or her own opinion on the matter, but as it is, I don't think its fair to call this book representative of the 100 best waterfalls British Columbia has to offer.

The other major issue with this book as I see it is the fact that it only covers 100 waterfalls in an area with literally thousands. The World Waterfall Database currently has approximately 1850 waterfalls inventoried in British Columbia, and I'd say that at least 500-600 of them (if not many more) are easy enough to access that undertaking a project such as this could have just as easily yielded a more definitive guide. I certainly understand the logistical issues in play with this project and I don't fault Greenfield for narrowing the scope of his project, but for such a waterfall-rich area, part of me expected a lot more.

Virtually everything else about it, however, is top notch. The print quality is excellent and though several of the photographs are not exactly frame-worthy, they are for the most part illustrative. The paper the book is printed on is a little on the thin side so it'll be easier to wear this one down with some use in the field, but it should hold up well enough to light use (I put a ding in one of the corners of my copy within 2 days of acquiring it). All things said, this is one tome that waterfall enthusiasts from any region should put on their bookshelves and those in British Columbia or nearby regions will definitely want to pick one up for use. I only hope a future second edition yields maybe the 200 best waterfalls in BC.