In the middle of winter a quiet country road may be a good choice for a hike.   Trails get snowed in and eventually become icy.   We can walk some of the winter beaches or we can find a backroad to walk on and if there are some hills to climb, we have a winter hike route.   While we were on the upper part of Rose Hill Road we only saw two vehicles.   All of the property on either side is private land but there is about 8km of hiking just on Rose Hill Road itself.

On the north side of Rose Hill Road, there are large meadows of grazing land  across from the top of Paul Ridge with Harper Mountain and Mt. Lolo.

A few fir trees stand in gullies and on protected north-facing slopes.

Clusters of alder grow where there is enough moisture in the glacial tills of the hills.

The upper parts of Rose Hill are unirrigated grazing lands.   The open slopes are a windy place for much of the year.

On the windward side of the hill, facing southwest, trees have more trouble getting established on the open grasslands.

A few older trees on a slope break will never grow to be a full-sized conifer.

Since the road is kept plowed in winter, it makes a wide “trail” for a winter hike in the hills.

Rose Hill Road can be driven from either end.  We chose to drive up from Valleyview then we came down through Knutsford.   We didn’t need 4WD on the route, but after a new snowfall, that might be the best choice.