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Mamquam Falls plunging into a milky turquoise pool in a narrow rocky canyon east of Squamish

Mamquam Falls: A Turquoise Canyon off an Unsigned Squamish FSR

The Sea to Sky waterfall that is not Shannon and not Brandywine - a milky turquoise slot, a short walk, and an unsigned trailhead past a yellow gate. Worth it if you will drive the FSR. Not a viewpoint deck. Stay on the rim.

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Quick facts

Distance
2 km
Elevation gain
80 m
Highest point
280 m
Difficulty
Easy
Time needed
0.75-2 hours
Route type
Loop
Season
Late spring through autumn when the FSR is driveable. The road is not maintained in winter. Volume tracks glacial melt and rain. A dry August still looks turquoise. Ice and a locked seasonal reality are winter, not a different photograph.
Drive from Vancouver
1 h 30 min
Transit accessible
No
Dog friendly
Yes
Pass or permit
No pass requiredNo day-use pass and no fee. This is not a provincial park trail. The constraint is the forest service road, the BC Hydro gate, and the fact that the trailhead is unsigned. Stay on the rim. The canyon is the whole point and it does not have a railing.
Last hiked
Traditional territory
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) territory, on the Mamquam River east of Squamish
On this page3 sections

Shannon Falls is the waterfall you can see from the highway. Brandywine is the one with a platform and a winter gate. Mamquam is the one you drive an FSR for: a milky turquoise slot, an unsigned trailhead past a yellow BC Hydro gate, and a short loop that is over before you have unpacked a second lens.

I walked it on 23 September 2023. Overcast, the river running that glacial colour, the canyon wet. That is the water in these pictures. I did not climb down. You should not either.

Getting there

Highway 99 to Squamish, then east on Mamquam Road onto the forest service road. Watch for the yellow BC Hydro gate. Parking is a pullout. The trailhead is unsigned, which is the whole personality of the stop: if you need a kiosk and a pit toilet, this is not your waterfall.

The FSR is the constraint. After rain it is rutted. In winter it is not maintained. A sedan on a dry September afternoon is a different day than a crossover in November. Do not block the gate.

Pair it with Shannon Falls or Brandywine Falls on the same Sea to Sky drive if you want the signed version as well. Do not treat this as a Vancouver evening unless you already know the road.

The walk

From the pullout, follow the worn path. You hear the river before you see the colour. The loop is short, on the order of a kilometre or two, and the viewpoints are rims, not decks.

Looking down the Mamquam River canyon, milky turquoise water between dark mossy rock walls
From the rim. The colour is the photograph. A wide lens that includes too much treetop turns this into forest with a blue line in it.

Stay on the worn line. The drop is real, the rock is wet, and there is no railing to argue with.

Mamquam Falls turquoise pool seen through cedar branches from the canyon rim
Through the trees. Let the branches be a frame. Climbing past them for a cleaner shot is how people get too close to the drop.
Looking down into a turquoise Mamquam River pool with a small chute and dark canyon walls
Tight on the pool. Polariser, overcast, a shutter that still shows the steps in the water rather than a smear.

The photograph is the turquoise, not a 335-metre curtain. If you came for height, Shannon is still the honest stop. If you came for colour in a slot, this is the one.

The photograph

Polariser, overcast, vertical frames into the canyon. A quarter-second to one second from solid ground. Sun on this water is a blown highlight with no recovery. I shot it grey on purpose.

This is not a provincial park, which is why there is no pass and no platform. It is still a canyon. Pack out what you carry. Keep dogs on the trail, not on the lip.

Hiked it myself

Overcast, river running milky turquoise, canyon wet. Walked the short loop to the rim. FSR driveable. Stay back from the edge.

Reported by Parveen Singh

Trail notes from the field

One email a month: what is melting out, what is snowed in, and where the light is good right now. Written after the hike, not before it.

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Shooting this trail

Photography notes

Best light
Overcast. The canyon is a dark wet slot and the water is already the brightest thing in the frame. Sun turns the turquoise into a hole. 23 September was grey, which is why these files still have colour in the rock.
Best season
June through October for a driveable FSR and melt in the river. Late September is the version on this page. Winter is a road problem before it is a waterfall problem.
Compositions
  • From the rim looking into the slot at 24-35mm, rock walls, the river as a turquoise S. Stay back. There is no deck.
  • Through cedar at 50mm. The branches are the foreground. Do not climb them.
  • A single pool at 50-85mm. Isolate the colour and the wet rock. Vertical frames hold the canyon better than landscape.
Gear
Polariser first. Glacial silt and wet basalt are a grey sheet without it. Compact kit. The walk is short. The photographs get worse the moment you leave the worn rim line for a cleaner angle. This is not Shannon Falls. There is no railing.