The Grasslands Community trail is a 14 km route point-to-point route that connects the forest near McQueen and Isobel Lakes with the grasslands near Deep Lake in Westsyde. Driving Directions and Trailheads: There are two trailheads. Most hikers prefer to hike from the upper trailhead to the lower trailhead, but this means having a two-vehicle system. To get to the …Continue reading…
We hike the Grasslands community Trail every year, but we vary the route each time. The upper end of the trail starts by going along the south edge of the McQueen Lake property. While students are on the property, we go around the fenceline past Clay Lake and then we meet up on the east side of the Environmental Center …Continue reading…
This trail is 13 km long and runs from the McQueen Lake area to Deep Lake. We recommend traveling west to east since there is a net drop in elevation. A two-car system or someone to drop you off makes this a point-to-point trail. The trailhead is actually at the east side of the McQueen Lake property (at N 50° …Continue reading…
This is one of our best hikes. It is 14 km long, but if you can plan a two-car system and start high, much of the hiking is easy. It starts at the edge of the McQueen Lake property, not far from the Day Center/Smiling Pond. Crossing meadows, mixed forest, ridges, creek gullies, bridges, and tracks, it eventually emerges into …Continue reading…
A number of excellent hiking routes start at Lac du Bois. The trails go through the upper grasslands and up into the forest. Many combinations are possible. The whole area is scenic and wildlife can often be spotted. This is backcountry, though, so go on these trails well-prepared. Driving Directions: Follow the Lac du Bois to the lake and park …Continue reading…
One of the most rewarding “backroads rides” is a 25 km route from McQueen Lake to the paved area near the cattle guard in Batchelor Hills The whole route is on double tracks, some active backroads and some old, seldom-used tracks. Making all the right turns isn’t easy, but a GPS track can be downloaded (at the bottom of …Continue reading…
Kamloops is very lucky to have such a large tract of hikable/bikable grassland so close to town. A large expanse of open terrain is found beyond Deep Lake. The Deep Lake hike is started at the end of Ida Lane in Westsyde. It is a reasonably short uphill hike to the south end of the lake. From that spot, many …Continue reading…
On the first day of July I hiked along the edge of the McQueen Lake area to the Grasslands Community Trail, then looped back through the upper grasslands around Clay Lake, then followed an old double track on to the flank of Clapperton Hill, and back through the grasslands – open forest to the start. The whole route was around …Continue reading…
We hiked on a loop route on the McQueen Lake Trails in late August. We avoid accessing any of the trails when students are on the site (a request from the McQueen Lake Environmental Education Center). We got an early start and hiked trails which steered away from the Overnight Center. We hiked along the Red Trail along McQueen Lake, …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…
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 the last third of winter we snowshoed the upper end of the Lac du Bois Grasslands Conservancy. The goal was to go on a known route to the end of Clay Lake, then continue east over to Meadow Pond and back, following some known tracks, some user-made snowshoe tracks, and breaking trail to connect them. There are some …Continue reading…
Clapperton Hill is the forested ridge-hill that rises above the grasslands in the Lac du Bois Nature Conservancy. In past years I have hiked and snowshoed around the hill, I had climbed to the top area from the southwest, and I have visited a favorite viewpoint on the south shoulder a number of times. On this November day, the plan …Continue reading…
We parked at the McQueen Lake entrance, then continued down the Isobel Lake Road, turning (at N50° 50.081′ W 120° 26.001′ ) onto the Forest Capital Trail (now called Beer’s a Waitin’ by the mountain biking community) and continued along the single/double track/trail to Isobel Lake. The trail is a good one, which we also use in winter on snowshoes. …Continue reading…
On an early June weekend morning we hiked the trails near McQueen Lake. The McQueen property is set up as an Environmental Education Center for School District #73, and as such, students are at the Day Center on weekdays, and may be at the Overnight Center during the school week, so staff at the Center ask the public to not …Continue reading…
In early May we hiked the Deep Lake trail, taking the turns to complete the extended loop, a 7.3 km route. Most of the group hiked up from Westsyde Road since there is very little parking near the trailhead. The lower slopes are in the grasslands, with a scattering of pine and fir trees and some old snags. We continued …Continue reading…