When all the trails are snowed in and ice develops where we would like to hike or bike, we can sometimes use backroads that are seldom-driven but kept open with snowplows.   The Goose Lake Road runs for 12 km from the Long Lake Road near Knutsford up to the high country forests of the Lac le Jeune Road.   On a February day, we drove up the road and picked a spot for an uphill hike and then back down again.

The lower end of Goose Lake Road is in the grasslands surrounded by private property.   The road was icy for all of the first half of the route, which follows the Peterson creek upstream.

Peterson Creek drainage

The road crosses on a bridge over the creek where there is a long marshy area 2 km below Jocko Lake

Peterson Creek marshes

Goose Lake road then leaves the creek drainage and winds up a gully between the hills toward Goose Lake.   The old Upper Afton Mine pits (part of the Ajax Mine property) are on the north side of this section of the route.

I drove past the lower grasslands to a higher elevation where the surface was hard-packed snow to start the hike up to Goose Lake.   The Lake is a collection spot for snow melt and surface run-off from the Upper Goose Lake Hills and one side of Edith Hill.   There is no outlet stream for the lake, nor much of a recharge inlet so the lake usually becomes stagnant in summer.

Above Goose Lake, the next 2 km of meadows and forests are privately owned lands of the George Little Ranch.   The road climbs the hill through mixed forest.   Above this. starting at 1100 m (3600 ft.) are Crown Forest Lands, with frequent logging activity, but there are some trails and routes that make good snowshoe routes in winter in the Upper Goose Lake Hills and on the north flanks of Hull Hill.

Upper Goose Lake Hills

Each winter we also park at the upper end of the Goose Lake Road and venture southeast on snowshoes onto the backroads on the slopes of Hull Hill.   For a winter walk, hikers can also hike down the road and back.   On our last drive and walk on this road, we saw no other traffic, but any driving on the upper end would best be done with good winter tires and either front wheel drive, all-wheel drive, or 4 wheel drive for the slippery steep sections of the road.

With the apparent non-start for the Ajax Mine the road will likely not be closed (as had been planned) and we will continue to be able to hike, bike, explore, and snowshoe on this wonderful backroad.

More Information:

• Goose Lake Road in April (mountain biking)
• Upper Goose Lake Hills (snowshoeing)
• Upper Goose Lake (hiking)
• Hill Hill West (snowshoe)