iN VIDEO: Chase Creek Falls the perfect, year-round stop for Trans-Canada travellers

Anyone traveling along the Trans-Canada Highway might want to add Chase Creek Falls to their list of places to stop for a break from the road.

Located between Kamloops and Salmon Arm, the falls and trail are a free, year-round attraction in the Village of Chase, that offer an Indigenous educational art piece and picturesque scenery.

Like most touristy stops along the well-worn corridor, the presence of these falls and trail are indicated by a pullout area on the side of Highway 1 with a parking lot and picnic table. This one also happens to have infrastructure from a local zipline that’s currently not operating.

In this case, the pullout is blocked off, and drivers have to make a short excursion to the actual parking lot and trailhead located in the village.

The trail begins along Chase Creek and goes under the highway before popping out among leafy deciduous trees and heavily-scented cedar. It winds deeper into a small canyon surrounded by steep cliffs, where bighorn sheep can often be spotted.

Partway along the trail is a large steel sphere called Stelteglxús Landmark with an information plaque. The art piece was one of several installed in recent years in the Shuswap to bring awareness of the traditional territory of Secwépemc, or Shuswap First Nations people.

The sphere is designed to be able to hold ceremonial fires, and has elements of mountain goats, cedar root basketry, regalia and pictographs rooted in Secwépemc design.

“The globe or circle is an important shape for Indigenous peoples, and the shape suites accessibility to the artwork and protecting it as it can be locked close,” said one of the artists behind the sphere, Tanya Willard, in a previous interview with iNFOnews.ca.

“The spheres can be lit by propane, wood fire or in one case lighting, but aren’t necessarily for ceremonial fires. The use is for Secwépemc people to connect to their lands, the usage is determined by the user.”

After walking roughly a couple of hundred metres along a nicely packed trail, the mist from the falls can be felt and the sounds of traffic are replaced by rushing water.

Chase Creek Falls are roughly five-metres high, flowing heaviest in the spring and frozen solid in winter. Chase Creek is small and starts in the surrounding mountains. It flows through the Village of Chase and ends up flowing into the South Thompson River.

The falls and its trail are managed by the village and the local Indigenous nations in partnership with the Shuswap Trail Alliance.

The trailhead is located at 1057 Paquette Road. Highway 1 travellers can access it by turning off the main highway onto Shuswap Avenue, then left onto Coburn Street, and then left onto Paquette Road to the parking lot.

The trail doesn’t offer much for a picnic area and no public washrooms are available, however the little town offers quaint specialty stores, cafes, bakeries and local art.