PANTHER LAKE TRAIL
Follow an old mining trail through big hemlock forests. Set at the foot of the Three Sisters Peaks, Panther Lake, with rock slides to its shores and sub-alpine forests surrounding it, is truly beautiful.
The trail into Panther Lake has been worn deep by the miners and pack animals who used this route in the early 1900s to access the Bayonne and Sunshine Mines. Now anglers keep the read open as they climb the steep trail to share the fishing with osprey.
At the terminal moraine at the far end of the lake is a perfect place to cast from. There is a good trail around the lake. There are still traces of the original trail that the old miners used as they led their pack animals over the pass at the end of Panther Lake. Marmots are common on the passes. Climb the Three Sisters.
There are no facilities at the lake but campers have cleared 2 small tent sites, one at each end of the lake.
Difficulty: Easy A1
Distance: 3.1 km one way
Elevation gain: +349 m (1150’)
Time: 2 hours one-way
Season: early July to late September
Access: 2WD until the last 1.7 km, then 4WD high clearance.
Map: 82 F/3 Salmo.
Drive: From the junction of Highway 3B and 3/6 in Salmo, drive 7.2 km south on Highway 6 towards Creston. Turn left onto “Airport Road” opposite the Kootenay Stone Centre. Go 2.3 km north, crossing over the Sheep Creek bridge. Turn right onto the north side of the Sheep Creek road. Paved for .5km then turns into a good 2 WD gravel road.
0.0 Stay on the branch next to the river on the north side.
2.7 km. Go right (left goes to HB Mine).
10 km. Junction – right to Waldie Lake, left to Panther.
10.8 km. Pass an abandoned BCFS Recreation Site.
14 km. Junction right to Curtis Lake. One may need permission to use this road (see Baldy Mt., Wall Mt., etc. and the beginning of this group). Park here if a 2WD low clearance vehicle,
15 km. Fork right and cross a bridge.
15.7 km. Park where the road widens at a switchback and continue right on foot for .3 km on the overgrown road.
Trail. At 0.7 km, turn to follow flags and cairns through the forest and cross Panther Creek on a bridge.
0.8 km. Rejoin the road
1.6km, cross Panther Creek
2 km. The uphill grade eases.
3.1km, reach scenic Panther Lake. A rustic camping area has benches and a firepit.
A miner’s trail along the northern edge of the lake goes to the pass between the Middle and South Sister.