The Quest for Coca Cola Falls

June 30th, 2010 | Posted by Jacquie Crone
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Mountains are easy. So is the ocean. Anyone can just step out of the car and there they are. Beautiful. However, when you’re on the prairies and exploring Manitoba, that Kodak Moment may require a little more effort on your part and you might even have to get down and dirty. But it’s worth the work – and somehow even more satisfying because of it.

Southern Manitoba has been hit hard with rain this past month and there’s more water than we know what to do with. Look around – there’s water pooling in the fields, there’s stunted crops and the cattle are standing up to their hocks in mud.

It seems appropriate then, that this post casts water in a leading role.

Coca Cola Falls has been on my radar for a long time and last week I was going to find those falls, come hell or high water. According to the Manitoba Trans Canada Trail Navigational + Interpretive Guide to the Boreal Shield, Coca Cola Falls is “an impressive set of falls along North Coca Cola Creek”. What a colourful description; how could I resist?

My partner and I began our quest at the mouth of the Winnipeg River, where it pours into Lake Winnipeg. Coca Cola Creek is one of the tributaries that flow from the east into the Winnipeg River. We worked our way south on PTH 11 for about 30 kms. to the Great Falls Power Station. My interpretive map indicated that the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) crossed the great dam, and from there it would be possible to walk or cycle all the way to Coca Cola Falls.

There are eight hydroelectric dams along the 235 km. length of the Winnipeg River. Two of them are in Ontario: the Norman Dam in Kenora, and Whitedog Falls further north. In Manitoba, continuing north, there’s the Pointe du Bois Generating Station, (the oldest power plant still operating on the Winnipeg River), then onwards to Slave Falls, Seven Sisters, MacArthur, Great Falls and finally Pine Falls.

Great Falls Powerhouse stretches across the Winnipeg River. As you walk along the top of the dam, you can feel the vibration and see the force of the 6 turbines churning and funnelling huge volumes of water through their generators. When you look down the ‘other side’ you can watch as the water is spewed out, destined to continue on its way to, well, the next hydroelectric dam at Pine Falls.

As we poke along, hanging over the edge, coming to terms with vertigo, I spy a couple of innocent Manitoba Hydro employees going about their business. I accost them in a polite fashion and ask for information. They are dubious about our chances of getting to Coca Cola Falls because of All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) damage to the trail, but they encourage us to keep walking, because across the dam is a quarry, (where the building materials for Great Falls Dam were excavated), which is a great spot for a picnic.

The quarry is easy to find as it sits on an offshoot of the TCT. The biting flies have us in their sights, however, and since I don’t like sharing my lunch, the picnic stays safely stowed. Still, the destination is surprisingly beautiful and I appreciated the suggestion.

The water in the quarry is a transparent, aqua blue, and its depth unfathomable. Of course, swimming is not allowed as the water is deep and muscle-numbingly cold (I’m just guessing of course), plus there’s the hazard associated with submerged quarry stone and discarded machinery. I can’t help but think that this quarry could be converted for safe swimming some day. After all, Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC used to be a quarry.

We explored the quarry by hopping from one chiselled slab to another before heading back to pick up the Trail. Several paths, created by snowmobiles or ATVs, head east towards Coca Cola Creek. We didn’t make it very far as the trails became lost in the undergrowth.

So – it’s back to the car – a little frustrated, but still keen on finding the falls. The next plan is to get to the other side of the Winnipeg River by car, then scout out the falls from that side.

We cross the river at Powerview and use the navigational side of the TCT interpretive guide to locate an access point to Coca Cola Falls. The Trail follows a rural road for about 25 kms through an area called Broadlands. The directional signage is well spaced and accurate. The road has a gravel surface, but that should not discourage cyclists as the Winnipeg River is often within view and the farmland and homesteads are visually engaging. (I’d find it a little tedious to walk, however).

Eventually we come to a little TCT parking sign, all identifiable markings shot through and through with a 22. There’s a rhyme there, but that’s all that is endearing about this. And next to that, a lovely Boreal Shield Trailhead sign, also blasted to bits, but this time with a shotgun. Nice.

But I can see Coca Cola Creek, so down we go, chaperoned by a flotilla of circling flies. They are well behaved, only sniffin’ and not biting. The Creek is a shimmering, swollen, beauty and just above the drone of the flies, I can hear the waterfall.

From the shot-out trailhead sign we head into the bush. There are two diverging trails, both of which are victims of ATV activity. The correct trail leads off to the right and that’s where we go, ankle deep in mud. The trail is about 1 ½ meters wide with a canopy of lushness that is inviting; yet deceiving. For once inside this lushness, and now calf deep in the muddy ruts, the flies and mosquitoes make their move. I’m embarrassed to say, I ran like a little girl out of there, using language a little girl should not know.

The other possible access point was a trail out in the open, so I doused myself in insect repellent and continued. I was up to my bits in mud immediately. I was stunned into silence over the damage ATV riders have inflicted on this area. I wish I could tell you I made the summit, or whatever you’d call the hiker’s ultimate destination, but I didn’t. I was thwarted at every turn by ATV destruction.

On the way back home, we stopped in Pine Falls and I bought a long sleeved jacket made of mosquito netting. It has a hood, also made of netting, that zips into place. I was a little bit excited, which immediately dismayed me. Next I’ll want a pocket protector for my pens and a snazzy pair of penny loafers. Exploring Manitoba has turned me into a nerd.

As for the ATV enthusiasts, where do you buy a protective jacket to deter them?

I reported my findings to Jim Chapryk, Executive Director of the Manitoba Recreational Trails Association, the non-profit group managing the building of the TCT. Trail damage caused by off-road vehicles is not uncommon, but each occurrence is disheartening to volunteer trail builders. Jim told me some good news though: that the Association has a plan in place to restore 5 kms. of the trail around Coca Cola Falls. I suggested the strategic placing of large boulders, perhaps dropped from a high altitude . . .

On another positive note (sorry about the rant) the day was actually a success. I firmly believe that those of us that are silent walkers, smooth cyclists, swift kayakers, and sensitive nature-lovers, will prevail.

Borrowed image of Coca Cola Falls

On this day, we explored the Winnipeg River System as far south as MacArthur Falls, we picnicked in the very picturesque town of St. George while overlooking the Winnipeg River, and we got so close to Coca Cola Falls that we could hear it. Sometimes success is a journey – not a destination, and the doing is often more important than the outcome.