Takkakaw Falls is said to be the Cree Indian word for “awesome” and it truly applies to this falls. It runs a mere quarter of a mile, then plunges straight down more than a thousand feet into the Yoho Valley. A protruding ledge near the top makes the water explode out from the cliff face before falling free almost to the base.

Takkakaw Falls played a key role in awakening my lifetime interest in waterfalls. I had been to Yosemite many times as a child, and knew all the falls, their names and heights. I looked up “waterfalls” in the World Book Encyclopedia, and there was a full page illustration of some of the world’s highest falls, Angel, Tugela, Ribbon, Takkakaw. The very placenames, Takkakaw in the Yoho Valley, seemed so dramatic, I knew I had to go and see. It turned out to be many years before I got there, but now I have been three times, each a wonderful experience.

The setting in the great glacial valley of Yoho is spectacular. The height of the falls makes the water seem to arrow down in slow motion. The sound of the falls is a rolling thunder, waxing and waning with the wind. I found I could sit and watch it for hours.

Did you know? That the height of the waterfalls is about 1016 feet and is said to be one of the tallest waterfalls in the world.

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