Snowshoeing the Lodgepole Lake Area

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One of the best areas for snowshoeing in the area is from trailheads at Lodgepole Lake.    The lake is higher (4600 feet) than nearby Lac le Jeune and it is on the border of backcountry forests on the flanks of Chuwhels Mountain.  to get to Lodgepole Lake, we turn off the Lac le Jeune Road near Stake Lake and follow the Chuwhels Forest Service Road to Lodgepole Lake.     The road is kept plowed all winter, but it may not yet be in good shape right after a snowfall.     For much of the winter, though, we can easily drive up to the parking area next to the Lodgepole Lake Recreation Site (campground).     There is lots of parking there.     The Chuwhels Mountain Road is not plowed in winter, but there may be snowmobile tracks or snowshoe tracks heading up the slopes.     The main snowshoeing trails/routes start at the campground.    Some of the trails have user-made signs and many are flagged.  Most of the routes in the area are summer-use motorcycle trails (GKMA) and forestry branch roads.   For snowshoers new to the area, the safest bet is to follow existing stomped-in trails.    Since most routes are in the forest, retrace your steps if you feel like you aren’t sure where you are.    Better yet, use a reliable GPS-enabled app on your phone to show you the trails, where you are, and a compass.    I use Maps.me and find it reliable and accurate.   There are a number of other apps for Android or Iphones.

We can also snowshoe along ponds and through cutblocks.   Trails that go north or east tend to climb and may be less-used.    Most of the stomped-in trails that can be used to make a loop route bearing west.    Lots of these are signed, but you may get to a junction that is unsigned, hence the support of a GPS-enabled mapping app.

There are some good longer routes to explore too, but you may be breaking trail and navigation will be required.  Start by doing smaller loops, then add extensions over time, adding more routes each year.    Since most of these routes are in the backcountry, take all the usual safety precautions, especially if the weather is cold.     This would not be a good area to snowshoe in fading light or in the dark.

We snowshoe the area about 6 times each winter and we are still combining trails and routes for a new loop each time.    A gallery of photos from snowshoeing the area are provided here – Lodgepole Snowshoeing (link).

A slideshow of the album is also provided below.

We hope to see you on the trails.

Snowshoeing the Isobel Lake Trails

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In mid-January the temperatures rose and snow started to disappear in the valley, but the snow near Isobel Lake is at a higher elevation and the area is in behind forested hills.     The snow was going through some melt-and-freeze cycles so it was hard where it had been walked/biked on, and crusty elsewhere.    The road was hard-packed on the way in so care was needed on the curves, but it was drivable by most vehicles.     The area is walked, snowshoed and ridden on fatbikes in winter (who also maintain the trails).   The parking area was cleared (with thanks) and there were lots of signs along the trails. I wore snowshoes on the trails (rather than spikes on … Continue reading →

Bush Lake and Dogwood Marshes

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When snow blankets the hills in winter, we can go snowshoeing at higher elevations.     Some of the locations frequented in our area include Stake Lake, Sun Peaks, Harper Mountain, Isobel Lake, Lodgepole Lake, Lac le Jeune, and the Bush Lake – Dogwood Marshes area.   We can also snowshoe backroads and snowed-in trails, either on snowmobile tracks or breaking trail.   There is a fee required to snowshoe at stake Lake, Harper Mountain, or Sun Peaks, but not at the other areas noted above.    Getting to a parking area for trailheads has to be taken into account.    Some roads are not plowed soon after a snowfall, and some roads may require 4WD to access trailheads.   When plows clear roads, … Continue reading →

Clay Lake on the Snow

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Near the end of December right before the more snow blanketed the hills, I went for a hike in the upper grasslands near McQueen Lake.   The route went into the forest on the edge of the McQueen Lake property, then around the end of Clay Lake, then looped through the forest and back through the grasslands.    I had hiked in the area another time not long before so both routes are shown here. Clay Lake was frozen and topped with a layer of snow. It was quiet in the area and there were very few footprints, except for deer tracks crossing my route.   Since I knew the area well, i visited 3 different homesteads, now abandoned for over 100 … Continue reading →

Peterson Creek Hills Hike

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On the second day of winter it was a cool, but sunny morning.    We arrived in the morning for a 3-hour hike through the Peterson Creek hills.   We started at the lower trailhead and hiked upstream to the canyon, then crossed the creek and climbed the west side of the hill, working our way to the rim, then uphill to the Tom Moore Trail.   We dropped back down to cross the creek, then followed a single track on the East Rim Trail.    Our hiking club leader took us on a series of winding trails up Tower Hill and back by different trails to the rim of the canyon.    We finished the hike by coming down the east … Continue reading →

Mission Flats Winter Beach Hike

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When we have milder temperatures near the start of winter, then again in late winter, the snow in the valley bottom melts.    The sandy-silty shoreline is quite porous so the meltwater does not result in mud.    There are a number of winter beach hikes along the shores of the Thompson River, the South Thompson River, and the North Thompson River to enjoy.     One of the the hikes is along the beaches of Mission Flats on the south side of the Thompson River.    The beaches are widest near the mill, but we usually start our hike closer to the Waste Disposal area, at the west end of the beaches.    We hiked there twice doing different routes.  … Continue reading →

Sugarloaf Hill Hike

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On a greyish mid-November morning I returned for my annual hike to the top of Sugarloaf Hill.    I started on Sugarloaf Road and followed a double track as it wound past a dry pond, then out near the Coquihalla Highway.   At a junction, I followed the upper track which was fairly grown-in.   The track climbed the slopes of the hill which became more forested on the north-facing steep slope.    At the end of the double track, there is a faint single track trail which climbs the steep slopes.    There is some flagging tape (some of it I placed) and I added a dozen more cairns this time.   There are two hilltops.   The one on the west side … Continue reading →

Monck Park Hike

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In the later part of November I drove to the south end of Nicola Lake, then up the Monck Park Road.    The gate was closed for the season, but there are a few parking spaces at the top, above the gated road.    A single track trail winds down into the park to the day use area and the beaches.    I followed the shoreline trail bearing southwest.    The trail goes to a series of bluffs and then goes up the hill using switchbacks.    After crossing the road, the trail continues to rise up to the fenceline border of the park.   An interesting trail winds along the side-slope, past rock bands, ridges and gullies.    At two … Continue reading →

Saltwort Pond Hike

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On a sunny November day we hiked tracks and routes in the hills above Kamloops Lake.    We started from Abbey Road, parking near the gate, then followed the gravel road as it angled toward the Cherry Bluffs area.   We turned onto a side track and followed it up, then downhill all the way to Saltwort Pond, an alkali dry lake on the benchland.   A series of hills lies between the pond and Kamloops Lake so we hiked up a steep hill off-trail to a viewpoint over the lake, and for a lunch break. From the top of the hill we had open views down Kamloops Lake and over to the Dewdrop Range. We angled down to the lake and … Continue reading →

Ironmask Hills Hike on the Snow

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Near the end of November (while the trails were still open) we went to the upper trailhead just off the Lac le Jeune Road and we hiked a loop route on the Ironmask Trails.   We saw a couple of late-season bikers on the trails, but we were breaking trail on the snow for most of the way.    It was a cool, sunny, and breezy day for 2 hours of hiking. These are nice shoulder season hiking trails with single track trails winding through open forests and over open hilltops. The bike trails wind a lot, providing easy grades for uphill routes.    Our hike was 7.5 km, a good distance for a pre-winter hike. On the following day I … Continue reading →