Brandywine Falls Provincial Park facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brandywine Falls Provincial Park |
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IUCN Category II (National Park)
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Brandywine Falls (camera angle used has shortened the apparent height of the falls)
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| Location | British Columbia, Canada |
| Nearest city | Whistler |
| Governing body | BC Parks |
Brandywine Falls Provincial Park is a beautiful provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It's located right next to Highway 99, between the towns of Garibaldi and Whistler. This park is managed by Sea to Sky Parks, working with BC Parks. It's a popular spot for visitors to enjoy nature and see the amazing waterfalls.
Discover Brandywine Falls
The main attraction of the park is Brandywine Falls. These impressive falls drop about 70 meters (230 feet) down! The water comes from Brandywine Creek, which starts in the Powder Mountain Icefield to the west. The falls are formed by a hard rock edge from an old lava flow. Just below the falls, you'll find Daisy Lake.
How the Falls Were Formed
The tall walls around Brandywine Falls are made of at least four layers of basalt rock. This rock came from lava flows that happened a very long time ago. These rocks are part of the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt. This is a chain of volcanoes and lava flows that stretches from northwest to southeast. It's the northern end of the Cascade Volcanic Arc.
The lava flowed over soft layers of glacial dirt, silt, and gravel. When the lava cooled, it formed a hard, strong cap over these loose materials. This created the perfect conditions for a waterfall. About 10,000 years ago, the ice from the Fraser Ice Age melted away from the Cheakamus Valley. This released a lot of meltwater, which formed Brandywine Creek. The creek flowed downstream and started to wear away the softer material underneath the hard basalt rock. This process of erosion created the stunning Brandywine Falls we see today.
Park History and Naming
The name "Brandywine" has a fun story behind it. It's believed to have come from a bet between two surveyors, Jack Nelson and Bob Mollison. They were working for the Howe Sound and Northern Railway. They made a wager about how tall the falls were. The person who guessed closest would win a bottle of brandy. Mollison won the brandy, and Nelson then named the falls Brandywine.
Another story about the name comes from the 1890s. Charles Chandler and George Mitchell supposedly passed out near the falls after drinking too much brandy mixed in their tea!
In the early 1900s, Brandywine Falls used to have a train station. There were also many small log cabins near the falls. You can still see some of these old, falling-apart cabins along the trail today. Before the 2010 Whistler/Vancouver Olympics, Highway 99 was improved. As part of these changes, the park was updated for day visitors. This meant adding more parking and picnic tables, but overnight camping was no longer allowed.
