The Rock – Anyone who keeps in good shape in Nelson does Pulpit Rock regularly – possibly every day. Easily the most popular walk in this e-book, it is done by thousands – it’s short, snow-free most of the year and conveniently close to Nelson. You only see forest until the top when Nelson and Kootenay Lake opens up in front of you.
Pulpit Rock is on the tip of the south ridge of Mt Nelson – or Elephant Mountain or “the Dome” – as most Nelsonites call it. The height is very deceptive when viewed from Nelson – it is a 3500-foot climb in total and 1500 feet from the flag pole to the CBC Communication tower.
If traversing Elephant Mountain, arrange a shuttle from the other end or have two parties that meet at the top to exchange keys.
Bob Dean did a tremendous amount of work on this trail over the years. Leon Arishnikoff carried a chainsaw up the ridge many times to clear the frequent deadfall. A bench in memory of Leon is on the flagpole trail.
Rating: ♦♦♦♦♦
Difficulty: Easy A1 to Pulpit Rock, C1 difficult to the CBC towers at the summit.
Elevation gain: 300m (984′); 1066m (3500′) to the Summitt.
Key elevations: Park 580m (1902′), Pulpit Rock 880m (2886′); The Flagpole Summit 1220 m. CBC Towers and top of Elephant Mt 1738m (5700′)
Distance: 2.6km one-way to the Rock, 7km one-way to the summit. 14 km to traverse the entire mountain.
Time: 1.5-2hrs round-trip to the Rock. 6-8 hours round-trip to the summit and return or complete the traverse.
Season: Late March through late October.
Assess: Easy
Map: 82F/11 Kokanee Peak, Pulpit Rock Trail Network
Drive:
To Pulpit Rock Trailhead. Cross the orange bridge to the north shore of Kootenay Lake’s West Arm. Zero odometer.
0.0 West end of the orange bridge.
.3km Turn left onto Johnstone Road, just north of the North Shore Motor Inn.
2.3km Park. 580m (1902′).
To Lyon’s Bluff Trail. Zero odometer at the west end of the orange bridge. Turn right onto Highway 3A, the North Shore Highway.
2.5 km. Turn left into the Lyon’s Bluff parking area.
Trail: The entrance to the Pulpit Rock trail is obvious. Ascend the well-graded but steep path that switchbacks up the southwest end of Mount Nelson. Reach the rock in 30 minutes if fast. Elevation 880m (2886′)
Elephant Mt Traverse from the Pulpit Rock trail. From Pulpit Rock, it is 2 km and 400 m elevation change to the Flagpole and 5.3 km and a further 842 m elevation change to the CBC Towers.
Elephant Mt Traverse from Lyon’s Bluff trail. This gives access to the east end of the ridge up Elephant Mt. A very nice new trail with several sections of stone steps. It climbs 300 m in 1.9 km to the top of the bluff. The traverse continues as a sketchy, severely steep trail on the ridge of Mount Nelson.
At 3.4 km, the forest opens to give better views. At 4.3 km, cross a tiny creek that dries later in the season. At 6 km the trail levels out through open forest. Orange trail markers are helpful when there is snow.
At 6.7 km, reach the rock bluff in front of the Reflector for great views down to Nelson, the Orange Bridge and West Arm far below. The radio tower on Mt Nelson’s 1738m (5700′) summit is just above the Reflector. New sections of the trail bypass older loops that cut off some of the rock bluffs.
At 8 km, reach a bluff with old concrete footings and the start of the steep descent.
At 10 km from Lyon’s Bluff trailhead, reach the Flagpole with its bench at 1220m (4002′), 45-60 minutes from the Rock, but still less than halfway from the summit. A good trail with switchbacks descends from here.
At 12 km, reach Pulpit Rock. At 14 km, reach Pulpit Rock trailhead.