The First Canyon to Spahats Falls Trail drops from the Wells Gray Road down to the river, winds through the forest, then comes up beside Spahats Creek.   The trailhead is in a parking area 260m south of the First Canyon bridge.    A trail also goes north to Second and Third Canyon from this spot, but the this trail goes south to Spahats Creek.   We were fortunate to be guided by Roland Neave, author of Exploring Wells Gray.

The trail is an old road built by BC Hydro as part of a dam proposal across the Clearwater River.   The double track is still in good shape as it switches back for 1.5km down the slope.   At this point the double track ends next to the creek.   A single track bears southwest then south from that point, winding through cedar-hemlock forest above the river.     At about 2.6 km there is a view up to the cliffs above and the Shaden can be spotted.   This large cavelike opening in the lava cliffs used to have a trail from the road above, but it was washed out and is now closed.   There are two access points to the river along this section, the first at 3.2km and the second at 4.6km.   From the second beach access, the trail starts to climb and after 0.3km a junction is reached.   A bridge crosses Spahats Creek and proceeds beyond on a rough, difficult route toward the Clearwater River Trail (not recommended).

The rest of our trail climbs steeply back up the north side of Spahats Creek, but a side trail also goes off up the creek to the foot of Spahats Falls.   The trail has been heavily eroded and is no longer a safe/reasonable route.   Two fixed ropes help at one point, but the last part is on loose rock, slippery and wet from the mist off the falls.   One section goes under the sheer cliffs below the viewpoint.   On the way back down, larger rocks hurtled down onto the trail close to where I was, a near fatal occurrence.   The view of the falls and plunge pool was superb, though.

The main trail climbs steeply up to the rim, then along trails to the viewpoints and back to the parking lot.   The whole route is about 7 km, although the GPS is not very accurate down in the trees in the canyons.  Highlights are the pleasant trail winding through the trees above the river, river-access viewpoints, viewpoints on the creek (on the bridge and up the trail), small cascades on the creek, and Spahats Falls.   Our thanks to Roland Neave for leading this hike and sharing his wealth of knowledge on the area.

Coordinates:

• Parking – N51 45.710 W120 00.461
• End of double track; trail angles SW through the forest – N51 45.780 W120 00.918
• Shaden viewpoint – N51 45.284 W120 08.877
• Rivershore access – N51 45.000 W120 00.942
• Rivershore acess – N51 44.394 W120 01.393
• Junction – N51 44.279 W120 01.244
• the GPS is not accurate in the canyon from here to the top
• parking lot – N51 44.182 W120 00.736