SUMMIT PEAK 2272m 7454′
Summit Peak, in the Nakusp Range, is located above Summit Lake on Highway 6 and is visible from the highway. It provides excellent views of Nakusp, Upper Arrow Lake, and a portion of Slocan Lake.
Difficulty: C2
Elevation gain: 2614′
Key elevations: Park 4810′; Summit 7454′
Distance:
Time: 6 hours
Season: mid-June through October
Access: 2WD
Map: 82K/4 Nakusp
Drive: From the south, turn right off Hwy.6 at the signed Wilson Lake road, about 9 km. north of Summit Lake Provincial Park. Zero odometer,
0.0 Pass alongside Box Lake lumberyard, and make the following turns: km. 3.5 left (signed); km. 5.3 right; km. 6.5 right; km. 7.5 left; km. 8.1 left; km. 9.7 left; km. 10.9 right onto the unsigned Harlow Creek road.
Drive 4 km. up this road to a point where it bends left and crosses the creek. Just before the crossing, note a very bad road on the right. This is your access to Summit Peak GR 570-609, 4810’. Access from Highway 6 is two-wheel drive.
Trail: Follow this spur road, that deteriorates into a watercourse and then becomes an ATV track/trail. In about 90 min., reach a frozen lake at 6540’ (559-590), where the trail ends.
Continuing west on snow and over alps, reach the north end of the peak’s north-south ridge at 551-591. Hike along the easy ridge crest to the summit at the south end. Views are of the Gold Range, Mt. Fosthall, the Pinnacles, and all of the Goat Range, Down in just under two hours / 5 hr. 50 min. total.
SUMMIT PK. (2272 m., 7454’), June 22 by Kim Kratky
Map: Nakusp 82K/4 1:50 000
Summit Peak, in the Nakusp Range, is located above Summit Lake on Highway 6 and is visible from the highway. It provides excellent views of Nakusp, Upper Arrow Lake, and a portion of Slocan Lake. On a sunny June day, Leah Zoobkoff and I made a trip to this easy, walk-up summit. As is often the case, road access is the key, so here it is. Approaching from the south, turn right off Hwy.6 at the signed Wilson Lake road, about 9 km. north of Summit Lake Provincial Park. Reset your odometer, pass alongside Box Lake lumberyard, and make the following turns: km. 3.5 left (signed); km. 5.3 right; km. 6.5 right; km. 7.5 left; km. 8.1 left; km. 9.7 left; km. 10.9 right. The last turning takes you onto the unsigned Harlow Creek road.
Drive a further 4 km. up this road to a point where it bends left and crosses the creek. Just before the crossing, note a very bad road on the right. This is your access to Summit Peak. At this point, you are at GR 570-609, 4810’. Access from Highway 6 is two-wheel drive.
Starting on foot at 10:05, Leah and I followed this spur road, which deteriorated into a watercourse and then became an ATV track/trail. In about 90 min., we reached a frozen lake at 6540’ (559-590), where the trail ends. Continuing west on snow and over alps, we reached the north end of our peak’s north-south ridge at 551-591 and hiked along the easy ridge crest to the summit at the south end by 1:10 pm. After savouring views of the Gold Range, Mt. Fosthall, the Pinnacles, and all of the Goat Range, we re-traced our steps to the truck in just under two hours for a 5 hr. 50 min. day. There are opportunities for kilometres of walking along the open ridge line east of Summit Peak.
Kim Kratky