Update – there is a new map for this area.  Please check the KBRA site for the most recent information.

For a few decades we have been running, hiking, and then biking through the Ironmask Hills.   Several successions of new land-owners/grazing leaseholders put up fences over the years, but we quietly continued to follow the old tracks, always avoiding seasonal cattle operations and the relics of old homesteads and mining operations.   Some years ago, the landowner selectively logged the area, changing the landscape.   Now much of the land is owned by Ajax Mines and some continues to be owned/grazed under provincial grazing leases.   To our delight, Kamloops Bike Riders Association (http://bikekamloops.com/) has negotiated a memorandum of Agreement with Ajax Mines and has been in the process of marking and clearing trails.

• MOU-Pineview-Bike-Trails-Upgrade-and-Access-Agreement-v2
• KBRA-Pineview-Bike-Trail-Map-Sept2014 (pdf)

And, even better, the trails now link into the Pineview Valley-Coal Hill Trail system.   The old tracks have been there for a hundred years and fences have come and gone, but the single track bike routes are new.  Key to the success of this agreement is responsible use of the lands (see details on the map).

We were pleased to follow one of the old tracks up the hill behind the Kinder Morgan/Trans Mountain Pipeline property to the Ironmask Hills area, then we followed the renamed Stubby Trail back down to the trailhead, all on snow in December.

(photos need to be redone)