Fairy Creek Falls is a popular hike just outside of Fernie in BC (Canada). It’s pretty short; About an hour long with a gorgeous waterfall at the far end of the trail. This hike is a great way to start your day if you’re exploring Fernie. It also works well as a mini adventure to scretch your legs if you’re on a road trip.

Fairy Creek Falls map

This map gives you an idea of the trail. If you follow the signs, it’ll take you up a different route (along Fairy Creek) You can see the route we took on my strava recording here.)

Fairy Creek Falls – the basics

Distance: 4.5km-5km
Elevation Gain: 105m
Time: 1-1.5 hours
What to bring: The 10 Essentials plus bear spray
Facilities: The trail head is right by the Fernie visitor information centre, so there are loos and water. It’s a good place to pick up maps for the local area and more ideas for hikes.
Dogs: Dog friendly.
How hard is it? Pretty easy. Great for kids.

Fairy Creek Falls – Getting started

The trailhead is right next to the highway 3 to the East of Fernie, next to the visitor information centre. You can’t miss it, due to the huge wooden oil derrik and the old train engine in the carpark. From there, follow the signs to Fairy Creek falls along the visitor centre trail.

Fairy Creek

There are a few different routes you can take to reach Fairy Creek Falls. The easiest route has sign posts – so follow them up a couple of switchbacks and along the trail by Fairy Creek. Once you reach the creek, just walk along the path next to the creek until you reach the waterfall.

The trail is very clear and well maintained. It’ll either be gravel, or boardwalks through some of the swampier sections. I have a feeling some parts will be muddy in the springtime so wear grippy shoes.

Fairy Creek is fed by streams on Mount Proctor and the Three Sisters. Every so often when the trees open out, you’ll get views up to those peaks.

Money for trail maintenance

There is a really cute box for donations close to Fairy Creek Falls. Bring along some loonies ($1) or toonies ($2) to pop in there.

Fairy Creek Falls views

The waterfall is lovely! We visited in mid-August, so it will be a lot larger (and gushier) in the springtime when the snow is starting to melt. You can get right up close to the base of the falls to cool down in the spray.

How busy is Fairy Creek Falls?

We visited not particularly early in the morning (about 9am) and so we had the waterfall to ourselves. This is one of the easiest hikes in Fernie, and it is mentioned in most guides to the area, so I would expect it to get busy later in the day and on weekends.

Heading back via Swine Flu

You can retrace your steps to get back to the trailhead, but if you look at maps for the area, you’ll see there is a whole network of trails covering this lower part of Mount Proctor. We returned via the Swine Flu trail, which had some lovely meadows for grazing cattle (although there were no cows when we visited.)

This was such a short adventure that we did it before breakfast. After this, we went back in to Fernie for coffee and pastries. Fairy Creek Falls was the perfect way to start our morning so I hope you like the look of it if you are staying in the area.