The Dewdrop Trailhead starts at a short side road off the Frederick Road and climbs for 5km onto the escarpment of the Dewdrop Plateau with a vertical climb of 736m meters (2414 feet).  We hiked up onto the rim one morning in early July.

Along the way were a few wildflowers, in the lower grasslands, on the ridges, and in the upper forest.

fleabane	nodding onion
old mans whiskers	mariposa lily

The trail follows a gully, steeply climbing north, then the route swings out onto a long north-bearing summit ridge which offers open views of the Dewdrop Range below.

The upper ridge has excellent views.   The trail continues to climb into the forest on the south edge of Red Plateau.   We hiked along the escarpment for another 3 km on a good trail,  working our way over to the rugged Castle Butte, shown here on the left.

The route to Castle Butte follows a descending south ridge; the final section involves a steep scramble around the east flank to the top.   We had lunch on the edge of the cliffs looking down at the Dewdrop Range, Kamloops Lake, the hills to the south, and a thunderstorm moving in.

The view to the west was more cliffs of the Red Plateau Escarpment, Rousseau Hill, and Kamloops Lake.

The return hike was about 12.85 km.   The hike starts at 560m and climbs to an elevation of 1296 m, a 736m vertical (2414 feet)climb, but there is a lot of up and down so the actual total climb is 1075 m (3400 feet).   We were about 4.5 hours on the trail on this warm, but stormy day.

This was the third time to climb to the top of the Escarpment in 2016 and at least one more hike is planned.   It is the best hike in the Kamloops area, but it is a demanding one too.

More information:

• Dewdrop Trail (driving directions, trailhead, etc.)
• Dewdrop Trail (article)
• Castle Butte Trail