Coldwater Rail Trail

A rail trail connecting to the Kettle Valley Railway Trails (Trans Canada Trail) connected at Brodie Station and went north, down the Coldwater River to the Brookmere Road. We used to hike a loop route from Brookmere to Brodie, then north across 7 trusses to a point on the Brookmere Road. The rail trail was also used by ATVs and mountain bikes. In 2021 a fire burned through the area, then in the following spring the Coldwater River flooded, washing out sections beside the river all the way down to Merritt and beyond. The Coldwater River Rail Trail was damaged and closed. I wanted to see if could still be hiked. What I found was washed out sections, overgrown trails, windfall, and a burned bridge. The route can be hiked, but it now requires fighting with overgrown vegetation, scrambling under, over, and around fallen trees, scrambling past sections where the trail is no longer there, and fording the river past the burned tress. I chose to hike it anyway.This is a scenic route in any season.

The bridge that burned is about 2/3 of the way to Brodie. All of the deck timbers are now unstable charcoal. In summer, we can easily ford the river to continue.