Tranquille Ridge Route

Overlooking the west side of the Tranquille River is a series of open ridges that climb toward the prominent hilltop that is sometimes called The Pimple, The route up Tranquille Ridge climbs 1150 feet in about 3.5 km. It starts on an old double track that climbs steeply through the sagebrush and grass, then we have to cross the first of 3 gullies to stay on the ridges above Tranquille Canyon. There are no trees for the first half of the hike, but that means that we will have open views of the Canyon, Tranquille and Kamloops Estuary, Mara Mountain, and the hills around.

This is a good route for early spring but in 2017 the hills were slow to green up. Along the route an old fallen fence flanks the double track.

As the climb continued up into the hills, we crested some ragged cliffs on the east side of the ridge.

The Watcher on the Ridge is found near the top of one of the hills. We can also see some of the erosion features in Tranquille Canyon below.

The view to the east are the open grassland hills below Mara Mountain.

The view to the south is of the Thompson River Estuary and Kamloops Lake in a wide panorama of grassland hills and the waters of the bottoms of the river valley.

A few snags and wind-shaped trees stand on the open ridges like landmarks for hikers on the way back down the open slopes.