I started exploring this area in 1976 and I continue to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, I chose to share this information. Getting out 12 months each year, I continue to explore trails, tracks, routes, and waterways of the Kamloops area and beyond.
Hull Hill is a sprawling forested hill that fills the whole space from the Goose Lake Road to McConnell Lake, a total area of 25 square kilometers (5 km x 5 km). It has been extensively logged and replanted and there are a few resource roads that provide limited access from each side. In winter, the best access for snowshoers … Continue reading…
We enjoy hiking, cross country skiing, biking, walking, running, and walking on the Stake Lake Trails. When snows cover the high country forests, the Stake Lake snowshoe trails are a good choice for a snow stomp on well-established trails. This last venture was a loop route to one of the McConnell Hill lookouts. We went around the lake then worked … Continue reading…
There is a chain of marshes in the space between Stake Lake and the Coquihalla Highway that are fun to explore in winter. Access is via a cattleguard entrance off Lac le Jeune Road. A double track goes west and branches connect to the South Bush Lake area too. On this sunny winter day, I headed out onto the ponds … Continue reading…
We started going up to the Ridge Lakes in about 1980 to do some early cross country skiing at 4820 – 5000 ft. We would put our skis on our shoulders and hike up to the snow. In mid-season we would ski from the Lac le Jeune Cross Country Trails (gone now) up to the trail next to the ski … Continue reading…
The Dogwood Marshes area is an informal snowshoeing area right next to the Bush Lake parking area on Lac le Jeune Road. There is a gate to go through and then user-established trails wind down the hill to the red-ossier dogwood and willow shrub marshes below. there are a few marshes and ponds above on the east and south side … Continue reading…
Most of the snowshoeing routes on the South Side of Bush Lake follow old double tracks over the ridges. Most of them end in a landing so connecting sections usually means following opens spots. Recently the area has been logged so there are new double tracks an large open areas too that extend right down to the marshes across from … Continue reading…
The original Bush Lake Trails were built for the first 1979 BC Winter Games. I remember talking to Art Hooper, the Sport Chair for cross country skiing. I was sport chair for both squash and racquetball and I attended Sport meetings with the other chairs and Director Pat O’Brian, then ran the events during the Games. Art got help from … Continue reading…
The Lodgepole Lake area is one of our favorite destinations for winter snowshoeing. The road is usually kept clear right to the Rec Site at the lake at 1415 m elevation (4652 ft). All routes from the lake are set by snowshoers or snowmobiles. The Chuwhels Mountain FSR is the main corridor, but many branch roads go off either … Continue reading…
All of the routes in the Bush Lake area are informal tracks that require some navigation. Longer routes can be snowshoed by linking one track with another, going over ridges or through the forest. The double marshes on the southwest end of the area between the Coquihalla Highway and the Lac le Jeune Road can be accessed through a gate … Continue reading…
The Dogwood Marshes area is not a formal or organized snowshoeing area. We use the parking area established originally for the Bush Lake Trails (across the road), but we enter the area through a gate in the grazing fence and drop down to the open area of the (red ossier dogwood) marshes below. There are no signed trailheads nor any … Continue reading…
The Bush Lake Trails were developed as cross country trails for the (first) 1979 BC Winter Games in 1979. We did all of our nordic skiing on the trails, but when the Coquihalla Highway was under construction, it cut the trails into two areas with no connection and instead the government established the Stake Lake system nearby. the old trails … Continue reading…
I have been hiking Dufferin Ridge in December for a few years now, picking days when valley fog lies below, but some clear skies above make the hilltops into islands above the sea of mists. The hike from the parking lot to the top of Dufferin Hill along the Tower Trail is 1.6 km. The trail continues along the spine … Continue reading…
When snow covers the hills and fog settles into the valleys, I sometimes drive up the Lac le Jeune Road looking for a break in the cloud cover. I don’t need a trail so I look for a parking spot and some open forest. On this cool day in December I set off into the forest near Inks Lake, following … Continue reading…
When driving conditions are “iffy”, we know we can drive up the Coquihalla Highway to the first exit and pull off to hike in the Outer Inks Lakes trails/tracks. Most of the double tracks were set before the Coquihalla Highway was built. The maze of tracks was used by the Greater Kamloops Motorcycle Association who added a number of single … Continue reading…
The Cache Creek Hills extend from the Back Valley Road, just each of Cache Creek, to the Battle Creek FSR close to Juniper Beach Provincial Park. A series of open hills rise 2500 feet above the TransCanada Highway. There are no established trails in the hills, but there are some tracks from The Back Valley Road, the Battle Creek FSR, … Continue reading…
How long will Balancing Rock stay on top of the pillar? Every time I return there, it seems more precariously perched on the eroded conglomerates that support it. We returned to hike the area in early December on a windy, cold day. We hiked from the gate down a single track to the edge of the steep slopes above Balancing … Continue reading…
