Whitegoat Falls (2.6km Total) Moderate
The Whitegoat Falls hike was fraught with controversy from the very beginning, but ended up being my favourite outing of our May long weekend. Sarah’s mom her and friends had done this hike last year and ended up horribly lost, and may not have even seen the falls, so we were hesitant even before we started.
If coming from Nordegg, follow the David Thompson highway (highway 13) for about 40 km until you reach a waste transfer station. The trail begins at the cline river waste transfer station, which has a decent sized parking lot for the area, which basically means more than three cars can park there. Walk around the transfer site and then you will steadily climb for about a kilometre. The slope is not especially steep, but just enough to feel the burn. You will come to a junction with a sign leading to the falls. This is where the second bit of controversy occurred. On the sign someone had scratched in “Falls dried up”. This did not inspire confidence in the group, but I managed to convince them to carry on. This section of the trail is through the forest and is also mostly uphill until you come to the edge of a small canyon.
Whitegoat Falls flows into a creek which runs along the base of the canyon. We walked along the trail at the top of the canyon, travelling further upstream, before we first spotted the falls. At this point you can end your hike if you want as the remaining portion is a bit of a scramble, but I highly recommend it.
From the viewpoint you basically claw your way down an incredibly steep slope to the base of the canyon,holding onto trees and sliding if you are me. At the bottom there is a marshy area to cross, with a couple of logs for you to use as a short bridge, hopefully keeping your feet dry. After navigating the marshy area,you pop out of the trees right at the base of the falls. I would not suggest climbing up to the second tier of the falls, because as you might suspect, it is very slick (note: one person in our group tried to climb up the falls and nearly slipped right off)!.
I quite enjoyed this little hike, but I wonder if the falls dry up later in the season as the spring melt ends. This is an out-and-back trail and it took us about an hour total to complete.