There are a large number of possible routes in this area due to many interconnecting trails developed over the years by walkers, bikers and horseback riders. A variety of landforms and aspects provide for a range of vegetation types and wildlife. The area covered is also big and basically covers all the benches 4-500 feet above Robson.
Ed and Hazel Beynon had a Kootenay Mountaineering Club trip here every year – their trips usually extended to a viewpoint above the power line to the north with steep descents. All loops involve being at a viewpoint, often the summit of Lions Head for views and lunch.
Also, look for the abandoned Robson tennis courts – then read the book “The World Without Us” and see how long it takes for evidence of us to disappear.
Difficulty: Easy. A1
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Map: 82F/5 Castlegar
Drive/Route: This KMC club trip has been run for years by Ed and Hazel Beynon. They like to park at the Robson tennis courts and do a variety of loops and figure 8s to visit the very large bench above Robson – Lions Head is on the east end of this bench. Although I lived in Castlegar for 25 years, I have only been up here once, and that was on a horse. They don’t give a detailed description of their walks, so this is what I have deduced from their reports in the KMC Newsletter.
To find the trail up to the bench, I tried to find the Robson tennis courts and used Google Maps to scan Robson and couldn’t find any tennis courts from above. I Googled them and found only two references to tennis courts in this Robson. An eclectic post on 15 abandoned tennis courts all over North America, surprisingly showed these courts with a hanging gate, rusty fence and trees and grass rapidly encroaching. The courts had not been used since at least the early 90s. Robson has something to be famous for after all. A second post was a real estate listing on Mountain St in Robson that mentioned the Robson Community School and tennis courts. I still couldn’t find the courts on Google Maps! They must be very overgrown. Following Mountain Street though, led to a well-trodden, obvious trail going up to the bench above.
In Robson (on the north side of the Columbia River across from Castlegar), drive west down Broadwater Road to the Robson Community School. Park nearby. Mountain Street on the west side of the school. Follow it to the end where it curves to the left and leads to the trail. Then explore. There are no special tourist sights. One objective is a viewpoint above the corridor cleared for the CPC power lines from the Keenleyside Dam. Following a series of trails and old roads allows the hike to extend well above the power lines depending on your energy level.
Another possibility is to walk west as far as above the Hugh Keenleyside Dam. Trails go everywhere.