The Landstrom Ridge Trails are found across the river from Hope. Take Highway 7 and start at one of two trailheads near Stockholm Creek. The loop route over the ridge will be the choice for most hikers. Most of the hike is in the forest, but there are a couple of viewpoints on top of the ridge. Our hike was … Continue reading…
On a sunny summer day we hiked half of the Grasslands Community Trail from the top, then we looped back on a Connector Trail above McQueen Creek for an 8.6 km hike. We parked at the trailhead and followed the signed trail past Griffin Lake. After 1 km through the forest, the trail emerges into an open area with several … 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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
On a mild day in May we drove on the rough Upper Dewdrop Trail to access the Dead Coyote Trail. Using our maps and GPS, we located the Forgotten Trail and hiked to the foot of the Red Plateau Escarpment. The Forgotten Trail was the designated down route for the Dewdrop Trail. Soon after the trail was built I went … Continue reading…
On a cool spring day I drove a short distance up the Greenstone Mountain Road and hiked a loop route. The first trail was Take it Easy as it wound up Cherry Creek then crossed over to the open douglas fir forest. There is a maze of mountain bike trails to choose from but I tried to minimize steep sections … Continue reading…
The main goal of the day was to paddle Barnes Lake, but since it was only 4 km around, I also decided to hike through the hills on the west side of Barnes Lake too. These hills rise above the east side of Ashcroft. The hike was up open sagebrush-grassland slopes to the top of three hills which had open … Continue reading…
On a pleasant spring day I drove up the bumpy road to Pat Lake, sometimes called Six Mile Lake. It is a favorite spring fishing lake, but I stayed close to the shoreline paddling around twice, once in each direction. There were many birds on the shoreline and on the lake, including blackbirds, loons, ducks (mostly coots), geese, bluebirds, … Continue reading…
The Cache Creek Hills extend from Battle Creek (west of Juniper Beach) to Cache Creek. The range has open sagebrush – grassland slopes on the south side and forested slopes on the north side. Forest fires have burned the forest and have left charred stumps. Access is limited by rangeland fences, but we can access some routes from the Battle … Continue reading…
Every year we enjoy the hike up Buse Hill. The trailhead is on Robbins Range Road (link to more information) and the trail climbs up open slopes to the forest above. The upper part of the ridge is part of a provincial park. We hike on a double track first, across lands owned by the Buse Creek Ranch. Signs are … Continue reading…