little qualicum falls provincial park

Little Qualicum River Fall Colors

Fall colours and fog along the Little Qualicum River in Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.

fall colours and fog at the little qualicum river in little qualicum falls provincial park

Fall Colors at the Little Qualicum River (Purchase)

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   I made this photograph of the Little Qualicum River in 2012 during a trip to Vancouver Island near Qualicum Beach, British Columbia. It is always interesting to make a number of photographs from one location, pick a few for a blog post or to highlight on social media, and then find out that the public is drawn to an entirely different image. In the case of Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park – the above photo is the winner and the others I chose for my blog post about the area haven’t gained the same traction. I’ve sold this image multiple times and even the copyright infringers seem to love it over the other selections. At the time I made this photo I was drawn to the rocks around the river and the fall foliage (mostly Bigleaf Maples) together with the low cloud in the upper background. This scene is next to the bridge just above Upper Little Qualicum Falls, though I do believe there is now a fence that prevents exploring the area along the river.

For all of my photographs from this provincial Park take a look at my Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park Gallery.

Little Qualicum Falls in Spring

Spring runoff at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada

upper little qualicum falls in spring

Upper Little Qualicum Falls at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park (Purchase)

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   Earlier this year I visited Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park on British Columbia’s Vancouver Island. The falls and area surrounding the river were much greener than they were the previous autumn which gives these photos a much different look. You can see the difference between the photo above and the Little Qualicum Falls photos I made last year. This time there were people at a wedding scrambling up the trail in light coloured, long dresses (not good on a muddy trail), suits and ties, and high heels. None of these seemed to have worked out very well for them – I saw lots of fancy, muddy shoes and at least one muddy dress. Not ideal clothing if you are intending to visit the falls btw. 😉

You can see other photos from Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park in my image library.

Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park Fall Colour

Little Qualicum Falls at Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park near Qualicum Beach, British Columbia, Canada.

little qualicum falls at little qualicum falls provincial park near qualicum beach parksville british columbia

Little Qualicum Falls (Purchase)

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   A few weeks ago I made a weekend trip to Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada. One of the parks on my list to visit was Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park – and it did not disappoint. The main falls (top photo) – officially named Little Qualicum Falls is certainly much more spectacular than the Lower Falls (bottom) but both are nice.

fall colours and the little qualicum river below the lower falls in little qualicum falls provincial near qualicum beach parksville

Little Qualicum River below Lower Little Qualicum Falls (Purchase)

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    I had initially thought that the best Fall colours might have already faded on Vancouver Island – at least judging from what I’d been seeing around Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. The colours turned out to be perfect. There wasn’t much in the way of Vine Maple colour, but the Bigleaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum) had great colour – yellow and even some orange. It didn’t look like any of them had turned slightly then gone straight to brown which was common this year in some places.

   I was also extremely fortunate with the weather. The entire weekend was forecast for rain, at times heavy. In the three Provincial Parks that I visited there was absolutely no rain. All the plastic bags and camera/lens coverings I had prepared were not necessary. While I’d intended on photographing mostly rivers and waterfalls – great subjects in the rain, I was still happy to not have to deal with the possibility of wet equipment and clothing.

fall colours little qualicum falls at little qualicum falls provincial park near qualicum beach parksville british columbia

Lower Little Qualicum Falls (Purchase)

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More photos from this area can be found in my Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park Gallery