The Batchelor Range is a chain of rocky hills overlooking the North Thompson River from the Deep Lake area to the edge of the City in the Batchelor Hills.   The south end of the Range is accessible from the Lac du Bois Road, but the north end is harder to get to.   We can drive on rough backroads to get closer, but to get to the top, we need to hike up into the hills.  One possible route is from the Deep Lake route and the Community Grasslands Trail.   By following this established and signed trail for 3.7 km, we can get to the north end of the Batchelor Range and from there its is a 1.7 km climb to the top of the first hill.

 

There is some forest on all the north slopes and gullies, but much of the terrain is open grasslands.

 

A few small  ponds are hidden up on the upper benches and in depressions among the grassland ridges.

 

 

Old snags and stumps and logs from fires and pine beetle kill area milestones along the route.

 

 

From the top of the ridge, glaciated features cam easily be spotted through the Lac du Bois Grasslands.   Several eskers zigzag down the slopes toward Long Lake.

 

 

The north side of Mount Mara is 7.5 km southwest.

 

To the west is Wheeler Mountain, 6 km across the grasslands.

 

To the east is Strawberry Hill and the Dome Hills, still barren-looking after the fires of 2003.

 

 

From the highest point in the Batchelor Range at an elevation of 970 m (3182 feet), we can see the North Thompson River flowing south to Kamloops.   The climb from the parking area for Deep Lake to the top of this ridge is 600m (1968 feet), a mostly-uphill hike of 8.5 km.

 

We went steeply downhill to the lower grasslands and found a new trail to the parking area, another 4 km of hiking.   The North Batchelor Range route is a harder loop, taking about 4 hours of hiking with lots of steady uphill climbing and some steep downhill, but all the effort is rewarded by outstanding views along the way.