There are a number of trails off the end of McLeod Drive – Uplands Drive. Some are single tracks on the grasslands bench and some climb the steep rocky hills above. On a mild July day, I hiked two of the Uplands Hills to enjoy the forest, ridges, and viewpoints. The trailhead area follows the gasline track west. A single … Continue reading…
Reinecker Creek flows from the Shuswap Highlands down to Shuswap Lake, passing through Herald Provincial Park. A loop trail climbs the hill to a viewpoint on the east side of the hill above Margaret Falls, then we can loop back by crossing the creek on a bridge. An unsigned side trail parallels the upper canyon and goes down to a … Continue reading…
Hiking from the Lac le Jeune Campground to the Vista Lookout and back on the Stake Lake Trails is a summer favorite. We start at the beach and then we follow the shoreline trail around the campground and out to Lac le Jeune Drive. A short distance east the Rossmoore FSR turns off and we follow it to access the … Continue reading…
Wheeler Bluffs is prime destination for a hike, but all routes to the top of the cliffs are long. We sometimes come up from the Tranquille area by following the road from the Mara Trailhead to Pruden Pass and then up the Wheeler Mountain Road. We have also come from Lac du Bois and from Mara Mountain, but all of … Continue reading…
There are many miles of trails to hike on Greenstone Mountain. On the northeast side are a number of trailheads off the Greenstone Mountain FSR. A few trails were established by off-road motorcycles, but in this area, most have fallen into disuse since there are many trails on the northwest side of Greenstone Mountain. The mountain biking community has now … Continue reading…
We hiked the Watching Creek Trail from Tranquille Crossing in mid-June. Spring melt/freshet meant that crossing Watching Creek would be hazardous, so we explored the confluence area and some side trails and returned the way we came, an 8.5 km moderate route. A short video is shared here: More Information – Watching Creek Trail
Continue reading...The main trail system in Paul Lake Provincial Park links the lake trails to Gibraltar Rock and the campground. But the west end of the park has a long steep ridge that can be hiked on an unsigned single track trail. The hike from the lakeshore to the top of Gibraltar Rock, then up to the top of the ridge … Continue reading…
All year-round the Stake Lake Trails area provides opportunities to cross-country ski, snowshoe, hike, run, walk, bike, or paddle. A favorite outing is to paddle the lake and then hike the trails. On this last mid-June day, we wanted to do a moderate hike-walk on the trails, so we picked a loop route and enjoyed mild temperatures for a 5.5 … Continue reading…
The Hamilton Corrals Commonage can be found at the upper area of the Quilchena Plateau. The Commonage area is public land, that may also have grazing cattle. Access within the Commonage is fine, but there may be gates to open and close behind you. The access road is the Pennask Lake Road which goes up from Nicola Lake at Quilchena. … Continue reading…
The Deep Lake Trail starts at the trailhead on Ida Lane in Westsyde. We can hike up the road or onto a loop trail into Lac du Bois Grasslands Protected Area. Signage helps to direct hikers to the loop trail, to Deep Lake, or to the Grasslands Community Trail. On a June day we hiked toward Deep … Continue reading…
In late spring we travel to the Lundbom Commonage grasslands to hike the trails. Each year we try to take a different route. There are double tracks, mountain bike single tracks, and horse rider tracks and we can combine them to create a loop route. This year, we traversed from the west end of Lundbom Lake to Hamilton Lake … Continue reading…
The Orchard Lake Trails are backcountry horse rider trails in the hills between McLure and Badger Lake. Access is by the Badger Creek Forest Service Road. Navigation is required for all of the trails. There are a few basic signs on trees, but there are many junctions, some fencelines, and some logged areas. After a number of trips, I have … Continue reading…
We hiked along the Rivers Trail from the west and went down to the river, then looped back past Dale’s Antique Beach and through the cottonwoods to the dike. The return hike was 7.7 km. We made a number of stops along the way to enjoy the birds, the bugs, and the blossoms. Click an image for a lightbox view … Continue reading…
Elephant Hill Provincial Park has natural (ungrazed) grasslands on steep hills above Ashcroft-Cache Creek. The area is one of the driest in the province and there are no trees and almost no shrub growth. All approaches are either very steep, or require access through private lands so the hills get very few visitors. On my third time to the summit … Continue reading…
We planned a hike from Lac du Bois to the western cliffs of Opax Mountain overlooking Tranquille Canyon and back, but we opted to doa treverse of Oapx Mountain from west to east, extending the hike into a long loop route. Our hike started by going around the north side of Lac du Bois and then to Hanging Valley. A … Continue reading…
In mid-May I hiked an exploratory route from the Greenstone Mountain Road to the Spade Lakes in the Outer Inks area. Using maps and GPS, I followed ORV trails, mountain bike trails, old tracks, and backroads, but also went cross-country when the track wasn’t going in the right direction for my intended bearing. For the most part, the route was … Continue reading…