ROAD ACCESS – Valhallas and Valkyres

DEER PARK ROAD: leaves pavement at Syringa Creek Park; continues W. to Deer Park; Cayuse Creek road goes R @ km. 11.2; Little Cayuse Creek road goes R @ km. 12.8; driven to km. 13.5 (Deer Creek road) in 01/12; 2WD

CAYUSE CREEK ROAD: goes off Deer Park road @ km. 11.2; not explored

LITTLE CAYUSE CREEK ROAD: goes R off Deer Park road @ km. 12.8; not explored

DEER CREEK ROAD; turn right off Deer Park road @ km. 13.5 (at km. 14 sign); do not re-set odo; keep R @ km. 18.2 where Rusty Road goes L; Cougar Ridge road goes R @ km. 19.4; drove to km. 34.3 at 5620′ gr 305-865 in 01/12, 100 m. from road end; there are other spurs in this valley system

RUSTY ROAD: goes L off Deer Creek road @ km. 18.2; not explored

COUGAR RIDGE ROAD: goes R off Deer Creek road @ km. 19.4; not explored

MACDONALD CREEK FSR: goes L. or east 11.5 km. S. of Nakusp; not explored; said to be drivable through to Summit Lake as of 09/06;

BURTON CREEK FSR: 190 km from Nelson; go L or east 40 km. S. of Nakusp, or 4.3 km. S. of Burton Store; a major turning signed Burton FSR; keep R @ km. 2.9; Burton road goes down & left @ km. 7.2; driven to this point 8/06; excellent 2WD

SNOW FSR: go L off Burton FSR @ km. 2.9; not explored

STONEY ROAD: goes R off Burton FSR @ km. 7.2; re-set odometer; spur goes L @ 3.9; spur goes L @ km. 4.3; keep L @ km. 4.8 (branch 13 goes R); drove to switchback where road goes down & back N. @ km. 12.5 in 08/06; good 2WD all the way

APPLEGROVE ROAD: leave pavement at Fauquier; 207 km.; reset odo; Pin Road goes l @ km. 7.7; southern Pin Road goes L @ km. 8.5; Taite Road goes L @ km. 8.9; Taite Creek BCFS Rec Site @ km. 9.6 & powerline crosses overhead; power line road goes L. @ km. 10.3; Applegrove @ km. 12 (only one house); Octopus Creek BCFS Rec Site @ km. 16.5; log dump at km. 16.8; Van Houten Road goes R @ km. 22.5 (signed); driven 10/05 & 05/06

PIN ROAD (south): goes L off Applegrove Road @ km. 8.5; northern Pin Road seems to join this; drove to ca. km. 6; road seems to head back N; 2WD good quality; (this might also be Heart Rd, since Mike at P & T told me it goes L @ km. 9); driven 09/06

TAITE CREEK ROAD: (not signed); goes E off Applegrove Road @ km. 8.9 cross tributary of Taite on bridge; keep L @ s/b L at km. 5 (faint road goes R); keep L @ km. 12.7; around this point, negotiate a series of deep water bars; road ends at landing in cutblock @ 6050′ GR 310-153 @ km. 14.9; roadbed solid but it’s old; 4WD LR HC in places; driven 09/06

VAN HOUTEN ROAD: turn right off Applegrove Road @ km. 22.5 (signed); reset odo; cross bridge from N. to S. bank @ km. 7.3; a spur goes back R immediately beyond the bridge; bear R @ km. 9.6 250-032, 5240′; go R @ km. 10; road end @ 262-023, 5644′ GPSed (about four hrs. drive from Nelson); driven 10/05; drove to km. 7.3 in 05/06 and skied to the road end

SUMMIT LAKE FSR: turn left 1.2 km. past Summit Lake Provincial Park on Hwy #6, coming from south; it is signed; bend R @ km. 1.7, staying on the mainline; at km. 5.1 bend R (a good road goes L); at km. 7.2, Dog road goes R; driven to this point 10/06, excellent 2WD;

DOG ROAD: turn R off Summit Lake FSR @ km. 7.2 (signed “Dog”); keep R @ km. 10.7 (lower road seems to go down into block); road ends in a landing on Box Mtn.-Allshouse Pk. ridge @ km. 13.9 at ca. 5700′; driven 10/06; excellent 2WD right to end; parked at ca. 485-587, 5550′ for ascent of Allshouse, just past km. 12 (?) sign, or was it 11?;

SHANNON CREEK FSR: follow Highway #6 through Rosebery to just south of Hills, 15.2 km. Fr. New Denver; turn left onto Bonanza Rd. (121 km. from Nelson; 1 hr. 45 min.)At km 1, cross the bridge and take the signed Shannon Creek. FSR to R; reset odometer; at km. .4, bear L (Bonanza Rd. goes R); at km. 3 Wragge Beach Rd. Goes L; at km. 4.9 Branch 6 goes R; at km 8.6, lower Shannon Rd goes L, keep R & up; at km. 12.8 Shannon Lake Rd goes L; at km 13, spur goes R to Big Sister & Dale Caton’s cabin; go through pass at km 16.5 (a spur goes R); road then heads SSW down Walton Crk.; cross bridge at km. 22.2 over unnamed creek as road switches deeply into a valley; at km. 25.1 Branch 25 goes L (cross creek at km. 25.5); at km. 28 Branch 28 goes L (Caribou Creek headwaters); main haul road crosses creek & bends sharply R, & heads back N. down the Caribou Creek valley on its W bank; drove this far in 8/97 & 9/01 & 9/04; 2WD all the way, except for for one slide at ca. km. 20

SPUR FROM SHANNON CREEK PASS: go R at km. 16.5; followed for 300 m before deciding there was too much alder; driven 9/04; may give access to east side of Silver Mtn.

SHANNON LAKE ROAD: turn left off Shannon Creek road at km. 12.8; signed
“Shannon Lake”; drove 2 km. to Shannon Lake trailhead at a switchback near an old cutblock; 2WD with easy waterbars; drove 6/02; road continues W from S/B (not explored)#

SNOWSLIDE CREEK ROAD: turn L off Shannon/Caribou main haul road just before crossing Snowslide (the second major drainage S of the pass, I think); looks overgrown; seen but not explored in Aug. ’97

WRAGGE BEACH ROAD: turn left off Shannon Creek FSR at km. 3, just before the km. 4 sign; signed; at km 1.3 keep left; at 2.5 km. keep L (signed); drive 6.9 km. to Wragge Beach; 2WD; driven 8/97

WRAGGE CREEK ROAD: turn right off Wragge Beach Road at km. 1.3; bridge at Wragge Crk. at 2.7 km.; take rocky overgrown-looking road just N. of bridge; this is driveable (2WD) a further 3.2 km. to where erratics on roadbed block progress; walked road (upper bridge is out) to Wragge Lake 7/99 & climbed “Wragge Peak.”

SPUR TO RUGGED PEAK: turn R off Shannon Creek FSR at km. 12.8; driven 7/90

BRANCH 25: turn off Shannon/Walton/Caribou mainline at km. 25.1; pass through a deep-dipped ford (a la approach to Snowy Top); road ends in a new landing at km. 3.1; 4WD HC LR; driven 9/01; looks new

CARIBOU CREEK HEADWATERS ROAD: (now signed as Branch 28) turn left off Shannon/Walton/Caribou FSR at km. 28; go to 4WD LR high clearance; at km. 1.3 A spur goes R and crosses the creek; beyond, cross a somewhat broken bridge and ford a tributary creek; the road goes through a built-up rockslide; alder grows in a bit; at km. 3.3 road truly ends in Caribou basin at ca. 5300′; good spot to turn around; driven to km. 1.3 in 9/04 ok;

HAILSTORM PEAK SPUR: turn R. off Caribou Crk. Headwaters Road (Branch 28) at km. 1.3; sign says “deactivated” but road in good shape with very driveable water bars; cross creek by ford; switchback around a buttress and into valley E. of Hailstorm Ridge; drove 3.1 km. to a landing in open grassy valley (9/01); wouldn’t trust the bridge in this valley; walked road to pass in 45 min.; certainly ATV driveable that far; beyond, walked road to its end on ridge S. of Hailstorm Pk.; I’d say that part is ATV terrain; to bridge in valley, it’s 4WD HC LR; couldn’t ford Caribou Creek bridge because of high water in 9/04; road beyond recently brushed out; walked from ford to Hailstorm Ridge-Grey Wolf col in 9/04

LITTLE UPPER SLOCAN LAKE ROAD: turn off Hwy. #6 40.5 km from Nelson; turning is signposted “Valhalla Prov. Park”; at 3.7 km bear L onto Little Slocan FSR; at km. 5.1 Keep R at km. 6, cross Airy Creek; at km. 8.8, Boulder Crk. Rd. goes L at km. 12.3, Russell Creek Road (signed) goes L; at km. 12.7, cross Koch Crk.; at km. 13.1, Koch Crk. Rd. goes L; @ km. 18.1 Tedesco Creek Road goes R; Hoder Creek Road goes L @ km. 24.7

CAMP 5 ROAD: from Little Upper Slocan Lake Road, turn left at 5.4 km; at km. 1, an old road. Goes L; at km 1.3, an old road goes R & down; at km. 2.1, road s/backs (old road goes straight off to L); at km. 3.5, rd. s/backs R & crosses creek on bridge; at km. 5.7 is the junction with Yolanda Creek Road (it goes L & crosses the creek); the main road. s/s/backs R & then continues up R bank of Yolanda Crk.; at km. 7.7, rd forks, keep R & slightly down; rode to km. 9.2 (4900′) where rd. begins to head down into basin on E. side of Frog Pk. (5/98); road had recently been graded (good quality 4WD with some mushy filled-in waterbars; in 5/98 no longer signed

YOLANDA CREEK ROAD: turn left off Camp 5 road at km. 5.7 & immediately cross bridge over Yolanda Crk.; Peter T says it continues up the E. bank of Yolanda Crk. & deadends; I could see lots of cutblocks on that side

AIRY CREEK ROAD: turn L off Little Upper Slocan Lake Rd. at km. 6, drove this 4-5 km. in Jan ’01 for skiing; from a junction, skied this S. to cutblocks below Sandy Stevens’ hut ENE of Airy Mtn.; in 01/07, skied this to first spur on L

AIRY CREEK FIRST SPUR LEFT: goes L off Airy Creek Road at km. ; skied in 01/07, reaching top of left-most of cable-yarded cutblocks; actual course of road unsure

KOCH CREEK ROAD: turnoff is from Little Upper Slocan Lake Road, 13.5 km from Highway #6 turnoff; old Cougar Crk. Rd. Goes R at km. 3.3; new Cougar Crk. Rd. (signed) goes R at km. 3.6; at km. 9.2 pass Grizzly Crk. Rd. on L; Marioka Crk. Rd. goes R @ km. 11.6; at km. 15.5 powerline road (“Summit Creek”) goes L at km. 20.4 Dago Crk. Rd. Goes L; Branch 9 road goes R just past km. 51 sign (15.9 km); the unsigned road goes R just past Watson Crk. Bridge (also unsigned, 16.6 km); bridge out at km. 25.5 at Murray Creek; “This is due to unsafe bridge conditions beyond this point” (M o F 6/29/04

COUGAR CREEK ROAD: Drive up Koch Crk. Rd. for 3.3 km.; turn off to R. near old sawdust pile; road looks overgrown in fall ’95

COUGAR CREEK ROAD (NEW): turn right off Koch Crk. @ km. 3.6; follow mainline, keeping L at ca. km. 6; drove 10 km. to ca. 5600′ landing and road end in Jan. ’00; not useful for climbing access

GRIZZLY CREEK ROAD: turnoff is to L, 9.2 km. Up Koch Creek road or 22 km. from pavement; there is a BCFS campsite by the creek here; at 5 km., keep L (road to R is Greasybill); at 7.4 km. Keep L at 10.8 km, go straight at 14.7 km. The L road takes you up into cutblocks below Spiers and Airy, taking the R. fork & then another R. in .1 km. leads to a cutblock below Mt. Stanley; in September 1996, I drove into that block 0.8 km. (That’s a total of 15.5 km from Koch Creek turnoff.); driven to km. 4.8 in 10/03; drove to cutblock below Mt. Stanley 12/31/10 (plowed); same on 01/01/11

SPUR ROAD L @ km. 14.7: drove 1.9 km. to end of plowed section in cutblock 6219′ 12/31/10 GPS 350 875; snowmobile cabin is on skid road just above this & a bit to south.

GREASYBILL CREEK ROAD: turn right off Grizzly Creek road at 4.8 km.; signed “Greasy”; fork at 9.3 km. is signed “West Greasybill”

WEST GREASYBILL CREEK ROAD: go R off Greasybill at 9.3 km. (signed “West Greasybill”); cross bridge @ km. 10 sign; GB 200 goes R just over bridge; driven 1.5 km. till stopped by snow (5/04); also driven in 10/03; driven & parked at km. 13 sign 1/29/11 GPS at 291-920 5200′; actually drove to km. 14, but turned around because of the hazard

GB 200 (GREASYBILL 1): turn R off Greasybill after crossing creek; ascend steeply to N. (good 4WD) to first switchback (stopped by snow in 5/04; good parking here); driven to end of cutblock about 1 km. Farther in 6/04; driven to road-end at km. 3.6 56   02/13/11

EAST GRESYBILL ROAD: go L off Greasybill at km. 9.3 (signed); at km. 13.4, an old rd. to R crosses creek; keep L on GB100; go R on GB110 @ km. 13.5; stop in landing @ km. 13.9 (5960′); 1 hr. 45 min. from Nelson; 2WD all the way; driven 10/03

MARIOKA CREEK ROAD: not signed; turnoff is 11.5 km. up Koch Creek road to R; at 1.4 km a spur labelled BR 1 goes off to L for 2.6 km into a cutblock (1995); at km. 8.3 Main Marioka Rd. continues left, up Marioka Creek; less used; 4WD HC LR; this goes into the very headwaters of Marioka Creek almost to treeline and W. of Mt. Flynn; drove to km. 12.3 in 06/07 where the road heads down and continues north;

MARIOKA CREEK RIGHT: at the 8.3 km. jct. This road continues up and back R into a burned-over cutblock for about 1.2 km.; yet another, older, spur contours through a col S. of Mt. Flynn (406-013); I followed it for 1 km., but it seems to go on a way.; driven 6/04

“SUMMIT CREEK” ROAD: turn left off Koch Crk. Rd. At km. 15.5; drove to near pass with Octopus Crk. rd. in 6/88; 4WD

WATSON CREEK ROAD: signed; turn right off Koch Crk. Rd just past km. 51 sign (15.9 km); it’s the second road. On R past the old power line crossing; drove 400 m. in 6/02; said to have lots of waterbars

BRODIE CREEK ROAD: reached from Watson Crk. rd; goes into basin on SW side of Mt. Freya; Howie has driven it; I haven’t

DAGO CREEK ROAD: turn left off Koch Crk. Rd. At km. 20.7; at km. 1.5, Spier Crk. Road goes L; driven to below Dago Lake headwall in 8/88; drove 3 km. in 6/02; walked rest of rd to near end; looks to be very drivable after snow melt; could not find bridge across crk. to blocks on W. side

SPIERS CREEK ROAD: turn left off Dago Crk. Rd. at km. 1.5; heads back S and ascends steeply; fairly deep waterbars; drove 2.1 km. to 4800′ in 6/02 before being stopped by snow; walked rd. about 2 km. More to end of cutblock in upper Spiers basin; heavy snowmobile usage signs; 4WD LR HC

BRANCH 1: goes R. at km. 21.9 on Koch Crk. Rd.; drove 4 km.& hiked rest of mainline to end in cutblock (10/99); drove 2.8 km. in 6/02 (5230′) before being stopped by snow

SPUR L of BRANCH 1: goes L at km. 3.1; walked to end in cutblock below a pointy knob (10/99)

BOULDER CREEK ROAD.: turn left off Little Upper Slocan at 7.6 km; not explored

BOULDER CREEK ROAD: turn left off Little Upper Slocan at 9.1 km; drove to km. 4 on winter logging show in 01/07;

BRANCH 500: goes L off Boulder Creek Road at km. 1.2; in 01/07, skied this to the end of the cutblock where it fades

TEDESCO CREEK ROAD: goes R. off Little Upper Slocan Lake Road @ km. 18.1 from south; signed; not explored

HODER CREEK ROAD: go L 24.7 km. from pavement off Little Upper Slocan Lake road; reset odometer; Blaine Creek road goes R @ .5 km (signed); Gasga Creek road goes R @ km. 5.6 (signed); at 6.4 km. Berry Creek goes L and crosses Hoder Crk. on a bridge; 60.8 km. Drinnon Crk. Road turns off (it’s 4WD on this); 62.8 km is road end and Drinnon Lake trail parking lot.

BLAINE CREEK ROAD: goes R off Hoder Creek road @ km. .5; not explored

GASGA CREEK ROAD: goes R off Hoder Creek road @ km. 5.6; driven to end in cutblock @ km. 7.2 on 09/08; 5978′ GPS 505-044; easy 4WD with good roadbed; followed rudimentary trail to summit of Mt. Rinda

BERRY CREEK ROAD: goes L off Hoder Creek road @ km. 6.4 and crosses creek (signed after crossing); re-set odo; Berry 3 goes R @ km. 9.3; spur goes up & R @ km. 17.6; spur goes R. @ km. 11.1; driven to cutblock @ km. 18 sign on 01/07/11 & 01/09/11 (winter logging); GPS

GWILLIM CREEK ROAD: leaves Upper Little Slocan Lake road just south of the Gwillim Creek bridge; old road. L @ km. 1.2; driven to ca. km. 2 in 11/03; driveable beyond; walked to Cooper Homestead and beyond to the point where the road fords creek (looks like an ancient logging road) in 11/03

BANNOCK BURN: take the turnoff from Highway 6 onto Gravel Pit Road, 45.5 km. N. of Playmor Jct; this is the S. entrance to Slocan City; cross the bridge and follow the main haul road S.; turn R at km. 15 sign; then note sign saying “Bannock Burn/Valhalla Park”; km signs on the Bannock Burn road are from this jct; 8.3 km keep L; 8.6 km keep R; at 10.4 km, just past km 10 sign, take R switchback (road straight ahead goes toward Prestleys and deteriorates); 12.6 km. Turn L (other spur heads off R. and up toward Dag); reach parking lot at 12.9 km(1750 m); 2WD; driven 7/04; Gimli trail, complete with register, starts here and is good right to base of SSE ridge; bivvy site at 2413 m. is at 532-122

BANNOCK BURN SOUTH: turn left off the main Bannock at km. 5.3 (signed); mostly 2WD; drove to recent cutblock @ 5232′ 503-084 at km. 13.8 in 06/08; drove to km. 17.3 (475-111) 6025 on 09/08; beyond this landing (easy to turn round), the road continues as a bad skid road for a ways;

12.6 SPUR: looks drivable to where road ends in lower part of cutblock; some alder at first for 40 m; big washout beyond the s/b now has a culvert; about 40 min. Walk to road’s end in 7/04; we used to drive this; did so in 8/99 for one trail, follow end of road to forest and look for flagging (this route drops down into a swamp, then diagonals up through moderate timber and across the base of a rockslide toward the basin on SE side of Gimli (50 min. in wood; in Sept. ’91 this was more of a half-flagged route than a trail); for other, better, trail head up to top L. of cutblock in which road ends and look for flagging; trail traverses W, then heads up, and traverses again to reach basin W. of the long N-S ridge (Nanga Parbat Ridge) coming off S. side of Wolf’s Ears (50 min. to alpine); to reach headwaters of Robertson Crk., diagonal up and L. (that’s N.) through boulder fields to reach the ridge mentioned above at a point W. of the lake at 551-115 on 82F/13 Burton; very easy to drop down onto E. side and into Robertson drainage;

NORNS/LADYBIRD CREEKS ROAD: turn R off pavement at signposted road (signed “Norns Rd.”) in Pass Creek Valley, 12.3 km. from Hwy #6 or 10 km. from Robson road; good quality 2WD road; km’s are signposted, counting from Pass Crk Rd.; good swimming spot at km. 6 sign; Norns Crk. Bridge at km. 9.3; at km. 10.2, a rd. goes L to a broken bridge crossing Ladybird Crk., at km 11.1, Norns Crk. Rd. goes up & R; rode to km. 14.6 on mainline in 8/98; this road may link up with Cayuse Creek roads; skied to c. 4100′ (signposted km 11) in 4/97; skied to Norns Rd. jct. from km. 5.8 in 5/06

NORNS CREEK ROAD: turn right off Norns/Ladybird road at km. 11.1; drove to km. 16, where the bridge over Norns Crk. has been pulled (permanent deactivation); mostly 2WD; drove 6/00

GOOSE CREEK ROAD: turn off Pass Creek Road onto signed Goose Creek Road. @ km. 10.3 from Hwy. #6; re-set odo; at km. 1.6 Leave pavement at signed Goose/Gander FSR; keep R @ km. 4.3; keep R @ km. 5; go L @ km. 6.8 (signed for snowmobiling); road deteriorates into 4WD LR HC lst gear; pass through a deep washout; parked @ a creek crossing @ km. 11.2; walked road from here to Shaw Cabin/Kevin Langille Hut at 479-771 (6150′) and then ATV road to near summit of u/n 7474′ in 10/08

RIALTO CREEK FSR: about 300-400 m W of the Hugh Keenleyside Dam turnoff, turn R onto this unmarked road; pass rifle range on L; at km 4.5, main rd. Bends L; at km 5.5, main rd. bends L; at km 8.2, main road. bends L at km. 11.2, main rd bends L; at km 12.7, active logging spur goes R (this is said to end in the new cutblock 7/97); stopped at km 19.5 as road continued W and down (a consultant said this rd goes all the way to Cayuse Crk.); reached elevations of ca. 5500′ in 7/97

RIALTO CREEK SPUR @ KM. 8.2: goes to R off mainline; after a few km, splits into two forks, both of which end quickly in cutblocks; of no interest

RIALTO CREEK SPUR TO S SIDE OF LADYBIRD: at km 11.2 on Rialto Crk. Road, go R where mainline bends L; big waterbar right away; 10 km. from Rialto jct. to bridge over creek below Ladybird’s S. slopes & cutblocks; boulder on road at km 6.1 can be turned; huge rockslide blocks road at ca. km. 7.8 (ATV track around this); drove to km. 7.5 on 7/01; 4WD low-range and quite overgrown

LOOKOUT RD. (SENTINEL MOUNTAIN ROAD): turn off #3A to the R. just at the very W. end of Thrums; junction immediately; go straight through; road parallels the highway; after 1.3 km. Pavement ends; continue up switchbacks to old Kalesnikoff sawmill site and burner; turnoff to Yoakum house at km. 2.4; at next junction, km. 6.4, go straight, not L; road carries on to E., mostly level, to a jct. @ km. 8.7; have biked this far (4300′, one hr. 40 min); go straight, not R; make 2 s/bs & continue N; lost it somewhere in snow around 5100′ E. of summit (4/98); drove to switchback @ km. 5.9 (3,700′) in 4/98; 4WD for sure rode from highway to maybe the last switchback R (faint track goes straight W to nearby powerlines, looks like 2000′ gain) in 10/10; beyond Yoakums, roadbed is steep and broken up–a harsh ride up;

SENTINEL NORTH FSR: turn left off Pass Creek road @ km. 7.0 from Crescent Valley bridge: not explored; gated