Natural feature
Takakkaw Falls
Glacier-fed cascade dropping in tiered steps from an icefield above a switchback mountain road.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, follows how a railway executive put a borrowed Cree word on a waterfall in a valley the Cree never lived in, and what that says about how tourist landmarks get their names. It traces the glacier and icefield that actually feed the falls, and the long-running disagreement among surveyors over how tall the drop really is. For the best look at all four steps, stand well back from the viewing platform.
This audio guide was created using AI.