Most people stop to see Sambaa Deh Falls when traveling the watefall route in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Sambaa Deh Falls is indeed an awesomely powerful gauntlet of rushing water. Coral Falls is located about 1.5 kilometres upstream on the Trout River from the highlight waterfall.
It’s a narrow, winding, unmarked trail that will take you from the Sambaa Deh campground to Coral Falls. Not nearly as many make the journey but it’s a journey well worth it. Coral Falls is magnificent in its own unique way.
Coral Falls Image Gallery
Coral Falls
While not massive in height, Coral Falls makes up in beauty. This horseshoe shaped waterfall is probably around 10 to 15 feet in height. The drop is similar is height and water colour as Recollet Falls, a waterfall on the French River, thousands of kilometres away near Sudbury, Ontario.
The waterfall is fed by the Trout River. Shortly past Sambaa Deh Falls, the river empties into the MacKenzie River where it travels to the Arctic Ocean. It is named Coral Falls for the coral fossils that the water erodes from the rock every year. For the anglers, Arctic Grayling and Walleye can be caught in in the river.
When we visited, the water anywhere in the southwest portion of the Northwest Territories were high due to massive rainfalls in northern British Columbia and Alberta. If the water was a bit lower, the base of Coral Falls could probably be accessed at river level. As it was, I was able to get quite close and probably could have made it all the way with a bit of trekking through the water.
The trail from the campground takes the high road and provides overhead views of the waterfall. As with anywhere in the Northwest Territories, take caution if you venturing off the trail at all for a better view. This area seems to be in a constant state of erosion and cliff chunks can break off at any time. The waterfall is just far enough into the wilderness to give a real feel of complete isolation.
The Forest Fire
You’ll notice in several photos in the above image gallery that the west side of the river is not quite as lush as the east. I have found pictures taken in 2010 and 2011 showing both sides of the river to be filled with dense forest.
However, in August of 2013, that all changed. A forest fire ripped through, burning much of the west side of the Trout River and areas north of the main Highway 1. The river seemed to protect the area around the Sambaa Deh Territorial Park campground as the sites were still surrounded by dense forest.
Check it this news article from 2013 for more information: 2013 NWT Fire
Sambaa Deh Territorial Park
The campground connected to both Sambaa Deh Falls and Coral Falls is located on Highway 1, pretty much halfway between the junctions with Highway 3 to the east and Highway 7 to the west. Highway 3 will take you to Fort Providence and Yellowknife. Highway 7 will take you north to Fort Simpson and west and south to Fort Liard and the border with British Columbia.
There are 20 non-powered campsites in the park. In typical Northwest Territories fashion, the sites are very large and spaced out. And, in typical NWT fashion, the people that run it are incredibly friendly and helpful. Many things in the area are quite a bit more expensive than in Eastern Canada. However, a campsite will cost you about half what a site in Ontario will.
In case you’re wondering, Sambaa Deh translates to Trout River in the Slavey language.
Coral Falls Video
I would have liked to spend more time capturing this gem of a waterfall. As it was, the images above and the video below were taken at around 11pm.
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Resources
Waterfall Route (official NWT site)
