The main trailhead for Dallas – Barnhartvale Nature Park is on Eliza Road in Barnhartvale.   From the parking lot trails wind north and east onto the forested benchlands and a few extend to the silt cliffs above the Trans Canada Highway.   All of the designated trails on the west side are part of the City of Kamloops Nature Park.   On the east side a fence with gates separates another set of trails, the Blackwell Trails.   These trails are on a Crown Grazing Lease and have been developed by the Barnhartvale Horse and Hiker Trail Preservation Society.   They are signed as Horse and Hiker Trails.   We hiked on them recently, going east to the Meadowlark Trail.

A sign in the Nature Park points us to the Blackwell Trails.

We passed through a gate, being careful to latch the gate properly.   The sign reminded us of trail courtesy/sharing the trails.   Mountain bikers should dismount when horses approach.   Hikers should step aside and allow horses to pass.   This is established trail protocol, widely accepted province-wide.  Trail junctions have arrows and the Horseshoe-Hiker symbol.   We did see other trails too, probably set by mountain bikers and/or dirt bikers, but we tried to follow the trail sings to stay on the designated trails.

The upper trails pass from pasture-like slopes into the forest, winding around gullies.   At ope spots we could see across the river to the ridge above the Harper Ranch Valley.

At the far east end of the trails, we walked out to a viewpoint of silt cliffs and gullies and he Campbell Creek area below.

At the northeast corner of the trails, we could see up the South Thompson River .

Directly across the river is the rocky (unnamed) hill and ridge dividing the Harper Ranch area from the Shuswap Road lands.

We crossed through another gate and hiked up the main trail in Dallas – Barnhartvale Nature Park on the Benchlands Trail.   Part way up is a sign crediting the Dallas – Barnhartvale Nature Park Wetlands Restoration Committee’s work on re-establishing a wetlands section next to the trail.   It appeared to us that the source of the water was a spring which seeped down the slopes.

A gazebo has been built next to the wetlands.

We finished our 4.5 km hike  through the Blackwell Trails and along the Nature Park Trails impressed by the trails and the volunteer efforts of the two Barnhartvale-based committees.

More Information:

• Dallas – Barnhartvale Nature Park
• Friends of Dallas – Barnhartvale Nature Park
• Winter Hiking on Pussywillow Lane