Overland to Painted Bluffs
Access to Painted Bluffs Provincial Park is limited and fairly difficult except by boat. We have gone overland several times, but we find it easier to paddle over in our kayaks and walk up to the bottom end of the bluffs. On this last outing, we hiked overland from the Sabiston Creek Road – Copper Creek road over the hills, ridges, and gullies to the top end of the bluffs. Road access to the start is to drive to Savona, the cross the Thompson River going up to the Sabiston Creek Road. This backroad is a good one although in early spring we encountered some mud, snow, and ice on the north side of hills. The drive climbs over the hills for about 22 km to the Copper Creek Road. In the last 2 km are some fine views up Kamloops Lake before driving into the Copper Creek gully. .
There is no trailhead on the Copper Creek Road. To go overland, we have to drive down the secondary road to get past the tenured grazing lease and the private lands near the junction of the two roads. We parked before reaching the fence marking the boundary for the private land adjacent to Kamloops Lake. this map was generated from Provincial land use databases to show boundaries.
The route to Painted Bluffs is only 1.3 km in a straight line, but because of the terrain, a winding route over the hills is required with slow progress on unmarked routes.
There are some bigger hills and ridges to go over so it easier to swing south to the fenceline or north to a more moderate slope differential. Either there are almost no trees so we can keep Kamloops Lake in sight and just bear east for about 2 km of off-trail hiking.
Along the way we spotted a few old animal skeletons, some colorful rocks in gullies, erosion features, a creek to cross, some tall snags on the hillsides, a few wildflowers, several deer, lots of scats, some tracks, lichen-crusted boulders, and many emerging spring plants.
The route came to the top of the bluffs where colorful erosion gullies descend to the lake.
Painted Bluffs is close to Copper Creek and the evidence of copper is seen in the green rocks and silt deposits.
The red colors come from cinnabar, the solid form of mercury and from some iron deposits in this exposed batholith.
Over millennia the ridges have been eroded by water running down to the foot of the bluffs.
An old mining claim can be found at the top end of the bluffs. This was a small operation cinnabar mine, long since abandoned.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The muted, multi-colored, and textured fluvial fans are the highlight of the park.
Beyond the park are the hills overlooking the north shore of Kamloops Lake. the steep slopes of Rousseau Hill is a barrier to road and trail development and only the railroad has been developed in this remote part of our area.
We have been to the bottom end of Painted Bluffs several times and then we have climbed/scrambled up for new views.
For this day of hiking, we skirted the top of all of the bluffs in the park, out and back, then turned back to cross the hills winding to reduce the up and down, passing an old homestead on a loop back to the parking area on Copper Creek Road.
More information: