Six kilometers south of Port Alberni, just past the shop yard where logging machinery is repaired, there is a trail head. There is no sign announcing it; just a turnout in the road to Bamfield. A big yellow gate. bars access to a road that leads into a big gravel pit. There are no signs that tell a person which, of a myriad of tracks, leads to a very impressive waterfall.

The hike to China Creek is perhaps 25 minutes, Ten to get to the junction at the creek and another 15 to climb up to the Falls. The last part of the trail is steep up onto a bluff overlooking the creek, and then there is a very steep scramble to get a view of the falls from bottom. The trail goes a bit further upstream for a view from the top.

Hiking downstream is very easy and fun. You come across three clear beautiful pools to loiter by for a picnic a swim or to just skip rocks. You might find swimming a little bit cool as the water comes from snow melting up high. In mid April you’ll find an impressive show of Pink Fawn Lilies (Erythronium revolutum for the naturalists).

The path along the creek ends where the McFarlane Creek joins the main stem. From there a path heads uphill toward the gate where vehicles park…I think! I have never explored that one.

Want a map? Click this: https://www.google.com/maps/@49.1839269,-124.7578915,16.25z/data=!4m2!6m1!1s1ZA03h30Eo6cv8DIF1bgo2RN716xbPFnx

NB. There has been some recent logging near the trail in the last couple of months. 8 Mar 2022