Nanaimo’s Bowen Park is typical for the city; an oasis of lush rainforest with gorgeous waterfalls, bordered by rows of houses and urban sprawl. Like nearly all of Nanaimo’s beautiful parks it’s very easy to forget your proximity to suburbia, and to get lost in the beautiful scenery. What makes the waterfalls in Bowen Park unique are just how accessible they are. A short walk over level ground on an obvious path is all it takes to reach the lower falls, making these perfect waterfalls for families to visit. The upper falls are only a short distance further and also are easy to reach.
Lower Millstone River Falls is a wide curtain of water cascading over a large mossy stone slab. The water here was powerful when we visited on a rainy day. The upper falls is no less beautiful. The river splits into two smaller streams, creating a mossy island before they reunite to drop down a couple meters. Everything here is covered in verdant green moss and it is such an unique spot to visit in Nanaimo.
Continue reading this blog post for everything you need to know to experience Millstone River Falls in Nanaimo for yourself, including distance, elevation gain, how to get there, the best time to visit, and lots of photos of my experience.
When hiking it’s important to avoid harmful practices such as disturbing plants or rock-stacking, or removing any natural object from flowers to rocks, as it’s important to leave the environment as natural as possible for the animals and for fellow hikers to enjoy in perpetuity. As many flowers as there are, there are few enough that if we all took one, then there wouldn’t be any left. Take only photos, leave only footprints.
If you haven’t heard of Leave No Trace principles, they’re also really essential to read up on before heading anywhere into the outdoors in general. Following these important principles basically means doing your best to leave beautiful places like Millstone River Falls as good (if not better) than you found them, both for their preservation and for the enjoyment of other visitors.
Millstone River Falls Round Trip Details
Distance: 1.8 KM / 1.1 MI
Elevation Gain: 16 M / 52 FT
Hiking Time: 30 MINS
When to Visit Millstone River Falls
Like all waterfalls on Vancouver Island, the best time of year to visit is the winter months, as well as late fall or early spring. These are the months with the most rain, meaning that visiting waterfalls during this time will guarantee a heavy and dramatic flow of water. Some waterfalls on Vancouver Island sometimes dry up during the summer, so if visiting during July either try and time your visit with recent rainfall of lower your expectations accordingly. We visited Millstone River Falls on a particularly rainy day and were very impressed with the power of both the upper and lower falls.
How to Get to Millstone River Falls Trailhead
Bowen Park is a large mostly-forested park located right in the heart of Nanaimo with multiple parking lots. I suggest entering the park from Wall Street and turning onto the Millstone Parkway. Pretty immediately a small parking lot will appear on the left, and this is the perfect place to park to visit both beautiful Bowen Park waterfalls. In the case that the small parking lot is full, you’ll have passed the Wall Street parking lot at the turn off, which makes a good plan B and adds only a few additional minutes to the walk.
Click here to open the exact trailhead location in Google Maps.
Walking to Millstone River Falls
The small parking lot. Brenna crossing the road and continuing down the path on the other side.
Following an obvious path towards the river. From here we just followed it upstream to the falls.
Yay flowers.
Views of the river, fat from rain.
The path follows the river upstream. Keep the river on your right and you can’t get lost.
Continuing past a duck pond on the left.
Lower Millstone River Falls.
Exploring around the falls. The trail continues up to the top of the waterfall, and from there further on to the upper falls.
Continuing alongside the river towards the upper falls.
Upper Millstone River Falls. Brenna on her phone for scale.
Recommended Hiking Gear
Water is a must whenever I’m hiking, especially if the sun is going to be out. My favourite water filter I’ve used is the Katadyn BeFree 0.6L, which unlike other water filters I’ve used packs up really small and lightweight. For hikes where I know there won’t be any readily available water sources along the way, I make sure to bring my own. The Hydrapak Stow 1L bottle is my go-to, for the same reason that it’s made of a soft plastic that folds up and doesn’t take up any more extra space than necessary in my pack. Finally, Aquatabs are another great option for purifying water, with one tablet being suitable for one litre of water. I previously used the Grayl water filter while travelling internationally, and though I found its hard body more convenient for day to day use and easier to drink from, it has a little too much bulk for my fast-and-light style of hiking.
The secret to all my photos of gorgeous sunset and sunrise mountaintop views? A lot of hiking in the dark. And let me speak from personal experience when I say that the last thing that you want to happen when hiking is to be caught in the dark without a headlamp. I used the Black Diamond Spot 400 for years and it worked great – until I lost it on top of a mountain somewhere. The only downside to it was having to worry about the batteries dying, though there’s also a slightly more expensive version that has a rechargeable battery. Nowadays I’m using the Petzl Actik Core, which is a bit pricier than the more budget-friendly Black Diamond, but is also brighter, more comfortable (in my opinion), and has a hybrid power system that is rechargeable but can also take AAA batteries if needed.
You won’t see me using trekking poles on shorter hikes often – but on long hikes and backpacking trips, as well as certain scrambles, they are an absolute lifesaver. I’ve invested in a high quality ultra-lightweight pair of MSR DynaLock Ascent carbon poles which, while pricey, I don’t regret one bit. If you’re not entirely sure how much use you’re going to get out of a pair of trekking poles, the best budget-friendly option would be the Trekology Trek Z 2.0. Amazon does sell a lot of cheaper Made in China-style trekking poles for cheaper, but these usually are much much heavier and not worth buying.
All the best and most long-lasting cables and power banks I’ve ever owned have been Anker. I once had a phone cable from them that lasted me over three years of daily use! That’s why I keep an Anker PowerCore Essential 20K power bank on me. Like many people I use my phone for a lot of stuff when hiking (checking in with family, using online maps, taking photos, flying my drone) so I like to be prepared for that low battery warning by having a backup power source on me just in case.
The only socks I ever buy for myself are from Darn Tough, and I almost always make sure to wear them when hiking. After years of having no problems only wearing these comfortable and rugged socks for hikes, I accidentally wore a pair of no-name socks on a hike last year and ended up with blisters on both feet. Safe to say I’m back to sticking with the Darn Tough. And the best part? They have a lifetime guarantee, meaning that if they ever wear out you can send them back for a brand new pair. For hiking footwear I go between a pair of lightweight approach shoes for quick and dirty mountain ascents or anything involving scrambling and more heavy-duty boots for longer treks. I’ve worn a couple different versions of the lightweight but super durable Arc’teryx Konseal FL 2 approach shoes for a few years now and am very impressed with the durability. I also really like the thick toecap that keeps me protected every time I stumble into a root or large rock. For longer, tougher, or muddier treks I rely on my LOWA Camino EVO GTX, which I find insanely comfortable and made of very high quality.
I wear my Ar’teryx Gamma Lightweight Pants on every single hike I go on, and on many days when I’m not hiking. After several years of abuse they are still holding together extraordinarily well, with only a few small holes from where I’ve fallen down and some slight stains from being repeatedly coated with mud. They’re lightweight, breathable, and super comfortable. For lightweight and breathable hiking tops I’m a big fan of both the Patagonia Capilene Shirt and the MEC Core Shirt. My Arc’teryx Squamish Hoody shows up in a lot of my photos. It’s super lightweight and packable, and does a great job of cutting the wind while also being pretty breathable. I also have an Arc’teryx Atom Hoody and Arc’teryx Beta LT that I pull out for cooler or wetter conditions.
I hope you enjoyed this guide to Millstream River Falls in Nanaimo! Feel free to leave any questions in the comment section below or to contact me directly via social media.