This pretty sub-alpine basin has difficult access as Keen Creek Road is washed out at the Kokanee Glacier PP boundary, 8 km from Joker Millsite on a relatively gentle gravel road. As a result this once well-used trail now sees very rare use.
The trails here travel through an old subalpine burn that is an ideal late-summer grizzly habitat. The lakes have an unusual feature: the upper lake is emerald clear and the lower lake is glacial turquoise.
Difficulty: Moderate B1
Elevation gain: 540m (1772′)
Key elevations: Road closed 4200′, Joker Millsite TH 1448m (4750′), Joker Lakes 2006m (6580′), Coffee Pass (2316m 7600′)
Distance: 4.8km one-way
Time: 3 hours one-way
Season: July to mid-October
Access: Difficult (road out)
Map: 82F/14 Slocan
Drive: Keen Creek Rd. Closed at km 15.
From New Denver: Drive east on Hwy 31A 40.1 km (24.9 miles). Zero odometer.
From Kaslo (Junction of Highways 31 and 31A): Drive northwest 6.5 km (4 miles).
0.0 Highway 31A. Start southwest on a gravel Keen Creek Road.
4.6km Nashton Road (left), just before km 5 sign.
6.5km Old road goes right, down; (to Mt. Carlyle, Flint Lakes).
7.4km (4.6 miles) Ben Hur FSR (to Mount Chipman) left just beyond big mine dump pile, km 8 sign. High clearance, four-wheel drive, low range.
11.0km Lake Creek bridge; km l2 sign beyond
11.6km Klawala Creek trail, BCFS road
11.7km (7.3 miles). Long Creek Rd right. (to Mount Heyland & south Mount Carlyle). The bridge is undrivable but may be OK for hikers.
13.2km Kyawats Creek bridge
13.3km New road goes left and up
14.8km Old road goes sharply back, up and left. No turnaround.
14.9km Park boundary.
15km Road closed due to washout (2002). Desmond Creek Bridge (unsigned). Kokanee Glacier Park boundary. 8km to Joker Millsite.
15.8 Washout. The trail up Sturgis Creek is an old road just before the washout. This is one way to access the Woodbury-Silverspray area. If passable road would be high clearance but must be getting overgrown. Get to the mill site by bicycle.
24km (15 miles). Joker Millsite. 1448m (4750′) End of road. Park your bicycle.
When one passes through Lemon Pass, Kokanee Pass, Coffee Pass or Enterprise Pass t the centre of Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park, one enters the drainage of Keen Creek. It then flows north-northeast to the Kaslo River and then to the north arm of Kootenay Lake.
Trail: From the BC Parks kiosk, go 40m to a signed fork. Right goes to Helen Deane Lake and Slocan Chief Cabin. Bear left for Joker Lakes Trail. Climb steadily, surrounded by an ever-increasing panorama of the Sawtooth Range on your left and Kokanee Glacier on your right.
When you reach the main Joker Creek valley, the trail flattens out before 13 steep switchbacks. Hike down to the creek for a drink and a view of the impressive Bridal Veil Cascade as it roars down the mountainside.
The Joker Lakes are an odd quirk of nature. although separated by only metres, the two lakes are completely different in colour. The lower lake is milky turquoise, typical of lakes in the Rockies, the colour being due to a flow of glacial silt from the glacier, whereas the upper lake is a clear deep emerald colour. A campsite is between the two.
Fish the deep emerald lake with trout. Any discarded fish remains should ideally be disposed of in the deeper waters of the high-country lakes where they are caught. Out of sight, they are also “out of scent” of bears, and become recyclable nutrients for the relatively impoverished aquatic ecosystems. Because of the water’s coldness, they will not deteriorate quickly, so it is important that they be placed beyond the shallow water where they might be visible for some time. (This method of disposal is only valid in naturally sustaining lakes; it does not apply to heavily stocked and fished lakes where a large quantity of remains could overload the system).
What to do?
A short distance up the hill from the upper lake you will come to the derelict Mansfield Mine cabin. Although in an advanced state of decay, the cabin is still useful as a refuge from sudden storms.
Coffee Pass (2316m 7600′), above the lakes to the SE, is easily accessible and offers a superb view of Kokanee Glacier and the Coffee Creek watershed drainage to the east. Binoculars help to find mountain goats on the cliffs above.
Kane Peak is a great mountain to climb. It has a register. Refer to the post.
There are some unusual traverses from here 1. To Slocan Chief Cabin 2. Ascend and traverse Kokanee Glacier to the Keyhole and descend the Esmeralda Trail to Gibson Lake 3. Over the Sawtooth Range (via Kane and the Woodbury glacier) to Woodbury 3. Over Coffee Pass, a very overgrown trail and a washed-out road.