Deh Cho Travel Connection
Waterfalls Route
The NWT portion of the Deh Cho Travel Connection starts at the 60th parallel. Travel is on the Mackenzie Highway 1, known as the "Waterfalls Route" where, as the name suggests, the opportunity is to view numerous spectacular waterfalls.
What do all the waterfalls of the Waterfalls Route have in common? We have to step back 360 million years, to the Devonian geological era, for an answer. At that time, this part of Canada was located much closer to the equator that today. ("Continental drift" has caused it to move north since that time). The land here was at the edge of a large ocean. Together with a tropical climate, the conditions were right for the formation of vast reefs, extending for hundreds of kilometers parallel to the shoreline, very similar to those found at the Great Barrier Reef of Australia today. The reef accumulated over millions of years as a limestone ridge just below sea level, formed from the remains of the creatures living on it. Those creatures may now be found as fossils, including corals, crinoids and brachiopods.
Switch now to more recent times. Some 100,000 years ago, North America has drifted to more or less its present position, much closer to the North Pole. Several ice ages have come and gone, and the most recent one is starting to retreat. During the coldest periods, great ice sheets had coated the continent right down to the central USA, somewhat like Greenland is today. As the climate changed and the ice melted, rivers carrying the melt water cut deep ravines into the fossilized reef, now positioned well above sea level. At locations where layers of the reef rock formations are harder than others, they resisted erosion by the river, and the waterfalls have formed. Some are small, on tiny tributary creeks; others are very large rivers, cascading over huge ledges.
All are worth a visit. There is something magical about the sight and sound of falling water. And, consider a visit in late fall, when the warm river water meets the crisp air with clouds of vapor; in winter, when the waterfalls are frozen; and in spring, when pans of break-up ice jostle together in the river. Just remember our caution: that trails and facilities are not maintained outside of the summer operating season, so you use them at your own risk.