Upper Salt Creek (Video)
We backpacked for 4 days in April, 2015 from Cedar Mesa into the Needles District of Canyonlands, Utah: An article to follow – currently scheduled for December 17th.
Continue reading...KamloopsTrails
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.
Spion Kop
Spion Kop (Lookout Hill) is an area of Crown Land surrounded by private ownership. The hill rises to 879m and looks out west over Okanagan Lake and east over Wood Lake. It is really the south end of Ellison Ridge in Lakes Country. Trails have been used by local residents for decades, but a group called Walk Around Lake Country … Continue reading…
Glimpse Lake
Glimpse Lake is in the forest at the upper edge of the Douglas Lake grasslands. To get to the lake, turn onto the Douglas Lake Road at Nicola Lake and climb through the ranchlands for 7 km, then turn left onto the Lauder Road. Follow the Lauder Road for 16 km as it passes the Lauder Ranch and a section … Continue reading…
Shorts Creek Canyon Rim
The Shorts Creek Canyon Rim trail is one of the trails supported by the Vernon Outdoor Club (VOC). Shorts Creek runs east from the Okanagan Plateau and drains into Okanagan Lake at Fintry. There is a short hike from Fintry Provincial Park to Fintry Falls at the bottom end. In between the two trails is a deep canyon separating Terrace … Continue reading…
Surrey and Sussex Lakes
Surrey and Sussex Lake lie near to the Surrey Summit (1444 m /4738 feet) on the Coquihalla Highway, but the access route is off the Logan Lake Road. Going west towards Logan Lake for 7 km, we turn left onto the Surrey Lake Forest Service Road and follow the road up the hill for 6.9 km until it passes under … Continue reading…
Exploring Wheeler Mountain
Much of our backcountry is not well-mapped and it takes many hours of exploration to link up routes. Wheeler Mountain is a large highland area with a few tracks that don’t link up well, but there is an opportunity to find these connections. A number of explorations have been done already: Wheeler Bluffs Wheeler Walkabout Over Wheeler Wheeler Winter … Continue reading…
Isobel Lake
Isobel Lake is a fine destination for a short hike or to camp at the redeveloped Rec Site. Fishing is now restricted to youth, in this small, shallow lake stocked with rainbow trout. All around the shoreline is quite shallow, but the middle of the lake is up to 25 feet deep. For paddlers, the lake is only 2.5km around … Continue reading…
Hamilton Corrals
The Hamilton Corrals Commonage is Crown land in the upper grasslands above Quilchena. To get there, turn up the Pennask Lake Road from Nicola Lake and watch the mileage markers on the way up as the road climbs 1700 feet past private lands to the Commonage. At about 11.5 km (N50 05.139 W120 26.978) a road goes off to the … Continue reading…
Murtle Lake West
At the end of September and into the first days of October, we went into Murtle Lake for 4 days, paddling into the west arm. [map style=”width: auto; height:400px; margin:20px 0px 20px 0px; border: 1px solid black;” maptype=”TERRAIN” gpx=”https://kamloopstrails.net/wp-content/uploads/Murtle Day 1.gpx” elevation=”no” download=”no”] From Blue River we drove up the narrow Murtle FSR for 27 km to the parking … Continue reading…
Chimney Rock
The Chimney Rock Trail is a 5.6km loop trail in Capitol Reef National Park (Utah). The trailhead is 6.6 km west of the Park Headquarters at Fruita. From the parking lot the trail winds along a sandy path through scrub pinyon and juniper for a short distance before starting to to climb the Moenekapi Formation red sandstone hills. We ascend … Continue reading…
Pass Lake
Pass Lake is located on the Lac du Bois Road about 2.5km past the McQueen Lake-Isobel Lake turn-off. Access is through the Pass Lake Rec Site. There are 13 camping spots at this fishing lake and a good boat launch This is a small lake and I used the SUP to do a 2.5km loop around the lake. Lakes with … Continue reading…
Raft Mountain Cirque of Tarns
The Cirque of Tarns trail is a remote and rugged area on the southern edge of Wells Gray Park, but it starts in Caligata Provincial Park on the north side of Raft Mountain. To get to the trailhead, turn onto the Trophy Mountain Road and stay right at the fork in the road, following the Spahats Creek Forest Service Road … Continue reading…
Stump Lake
We have hiked and biked around Stump Lake, but paddling the lake eluded us because of frequent strong winds. I resolved to get onto the lake early in the morning before the winds came up, so I set out to paddle as much of the lake as I could. To paddle the whole lake perimeter is about 19 km, a … Continue reading…
Capitol Gorge
Capitol Gorge is a short hike in Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. From the Visitors’ Center, follow the Scenic Drive south to the end of the pavement and turn down a dirt spur road which winds through the canyon to the trailhead. This was the only east-west road through the Waterpocket Fold in the Park area prior to 1964. … Continue reading…
Birch Lake
The Interlakes Area of Highway 24 has many lakes to paddle and explore. Birch Lake is found west of McDonald Summit (4300 feet) on the Nehaliston Plateau just east of Lac des Roches. The turn off the highway is signed as Phinetta Lake. It goes south to the Opax Mountain Resort which owns the campsite/launch area at Birch Lake. … Continue reading…
Skoatl
Skoatl Point is a large volcanic feature on the Bonaparte Plateau. The hike is 10km return, much of it through the forest on a single track trail. The final section is a steep scramble up basalt ledges to the top. The view from the top extends over much of Bonaparte Provincial Park. The road network is a bit difficult to … Continue reading…