Trail: Bridal Falls
Location: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Distance from Vancouver: Approx. 1 hour and 20 mins
Directions with a Link to Google Map: Click here for Google map
Ages of Children Hiking: 10, 7, 4, 2
Adults: 1
Stroller Friendly: Yes*
Dog Friendly: Yes
Bathrooms: Yes
Jelly Bean Rating: 1/5
If you’ve ever driven East of Chilliwack on Hwy 1 you may have seen a noticeable waterfall cascading down the mountain.
That’s Bridal Falls!
While it’s magnificent from a distance, it’s even more beautiful up close.
Once you get to the parking lot there are washrooms right at the entrance, which, as you know, is always appreciated.
You can either head to the right following the “To Falls” sign or you can go up the “Woodland Trail”. They’ll both lead to Bridal Falls. I let my girls choose which way they wanted to go. They didn’t like the sounds of “trail” that day, so they chose to just go look at the falls.
The trail is slightly elevated and isn’t too hard for the kiddos. There are a few pretty cool stumps along the way that offer a little spot to do a bit of climbing. There’s also a big ol’ tree with a hole in the roots that allow for a fun game of “throw the rock in the tree”! We stopped here for about 10 minutes while my kids challenged each other:)
About 20 minutes (kids paced) up the trail there’s a bridge that needs crossing! This provided enough motivation-and a guarantee that there is actually water-to keep them going to Bridal Falls.
A short while further and you’ll see the falls in view. Once you hit the platform you’re there! There are signs put up prohibiting going past the platform fence to see Bridal Falls a bit closer, but you’ll find that most people do. It is quite steep to head up and is potentially dangerous.
So, here’s where I tricked my kids a bit. You can either go back down the way you came, or you can take the Woodland Trail-the distances are comparable. I took advantage of them not seeing the “Woodland Trail” sign and suggested that we go down the stairs this time. They totally bought it:) *This is where a stroller would be difficult to maneuver.
At the bottom of the stairs there’s a neat hollowed out fallen tree. The kids spent some time here checking it out and pretending it was a ship in the middle of the forest!
The trail is very easy to navigate and will lead you right back to the parking lot. It was here that the kids realized that they had just done a trail.
It was a bit of a drizzly day so we decided to head somewhere dry for lunch, but on a nice day we would have celebrated our kid-friendly hike to Bridal Falls with a picnic at one of the many picnic tables provided at the trailhead!
Jellybean Rating for Bridal Falls trail
Bridal Falls trail gets a 2/5 on our Jellybean Rating. It’s fairly easy for kids to be able to do and is very accessible. The trail has enough exciting checkpoints along the way to make it easier but it’s still enough of a trail for them to feel like they’ve gone on a good hike. Bridal Falls can get really busy-especially in the summer time on the weekends. It’s a hot tourist spot and you may find yourself among a few tour buses. Don’t let that deter you; it’s still worth going!
Have fun!
Sam
XO