A Photo Study of a
Gray Creek to Kimberley
Trans-Canada Trail
Route Option
REV 1
by Al Skucas
Trails BC President
Rockies/East Kootenays Director
Oct 2008

A Photo Study of a
Gray Creek to Kimberley Trans-
Canada Trail
Route Option
REV 1
by Al Skucas
Trails BC President
Rockies/East Kootenays Director
Oct 2008
32 km

From Gray Creek to Kimberley
Kimberley
The
Pass
Gray Marysville
Creek St. Mary’s
Lake
82 Km through the scenic Purcell Mountains of B.C.
Interim Road Route in place with options to develop a
TCT route off road in stages of progressive development

Arriving on the M.V. Osprey from
Balfour
Crossing the Kootenay
Lake on the longest free
ferry ride in the world

On Kootenay Lake
looking towards Gray
Creek from Crawford Bay

Gray Creek
The Western Terminus of the
Gray Creek Pass Route

Lakeside Camping Resort
Opportunity to stock up on
supplies before embarking
on the eastbound trek

Time for a refreshing dip
in Kootenay Lake before
tackling the climb to
Gray Creek Pass

Gray Creek to Summit and Over
Road Route
Indicated in
Yellow
Km Mileposts
added

THE ROAD ROUTE
From West to East
The Beginning
1km

Starts off easy enough
1.5 km

Plenty of opportunities
to replenish water on a
hot summer day
7.5 km

Average grade
to summit 9.2%
over 16.5 km
8 km

Adventurous Cyclists
currently use this route as
an off highway alternative
between the East and
West Kootenays
9 km

10 km

Some of the grades
here go up to 14%
11 km

Finally,
getting closer
to the Summit
14.5
km

Near the top and a
lovely little campsite
appears
15.5 km

A short little walk of
200m from the road
brings one to this
pretty little Alpine
Lake

A hiking trail goes all
the away around
Oliver Lake

The summit
at 6800 ft. and 5000 ft
above Kootenay Lake
16.5 km

Preparing to go down
towards the east

Starting to descend
from summit
17 km

East of Summit the road
becomes the Baker Ck.
Forestry Road and after a
few kms. the downhill
grades begin to moderate
.
20 km

Descending East along Baker Ck to Redding Ck

Going through an un-harvested
section of mature White Spruce.
Has a west coast feel to this
short section.
27 km

At 29 km the road
becomes the Redding
Creek Forestry Road
28.5 km

32 km

33.5 km

Bridge over
Redding Creek
34 km

Looking west, up
Redding Creek

36 km

37 km

Tamarack
Needles in their
Fall Colors
38 km

Redding Ck onto St. Mary’s River and Lake

Approaching the St.
Mary’s River Valley
46 km

Crossing of the St. Mary’s
River
Popular place for a
wilderness camping stop
52 km

Looking north-west up
the St. Mary’s River into
the renowned St.
Mary’s Alpine Park
Past the bridge the
road becomes the
St. Mary’s River
Forestry Road

First indication of an early
pioneer settlement
57 km

St Mary’s Lake to Kimberley

St. Mary’s Lake
64 km

Campground at
the eastern end
of the lake
66 km

Outflow of the lake
to become the St.
Mary’s River

At 64 km the St. Mary’s River paved road begins
72 km

The rural outskirts of
Kimberly and the
Kimberley Riverside
Campground appears to 79 km
the weary traveler

Access into the
Kimberley Nature Park
across the road from
the campground
Road Route ends 3km later
along the road at the
junction of Hwy 95 and the
St. Mary’s River Road.
79 km

Gray Creek to Summit and Over
Teck’s
Powerline
Access Road
The Off Road Route Options

A more rustic alternative
for hikers and equestrians

Summertime view
looking over the West
Arm of Kootenay Lake

In the fall inversions are
common over Kootenay
Lake

This first section
is available
currently to use
Teck is in the process
of abandoning the line,
starting with public open
houses to begin in
2008/09

One of the effects of
abandonment would
be to remove the
Powerline completely

Parts of the trail are
closed in by the forest
canopy
With the closing of
the Sullivan Mine in
Kimberley in 1999,
this ROW as the
TCT may be a fitting
legacy

Fall view of
alpine meadow
at summit

Tarn close to
summit

At the very top
of the pass on
the road

At summit the terrain is relatively
flat for over 1km. This summit is
300 ft. less in elevation than the
forestry road summit.

Some evidence of
habitation in the past

Descending
from summit
to the east

Trail transitions
from in the
forest till …..

…..till it is out
of the forest
Grades on this
downhill stretch
run to 25%+

Descending East along Baker Ck to Redding Ck
Section 2 PWL
Section 3 PWL
access road –
access road-
4.5 km long
10.5 km long

At 27km of the forestry
road route, access to
Section 2 of the PWL road
begins

This 4.5 km
section has great
scenic attributes

A nice grove of Birch
trees in the background

Again one of the appeals
to the PWL route is the
transitioning from into and
out of the forest
Note, the high standard to
which some sections of the
PWL road are
constructed. Lots of cut
and fill here to produce this
grade

At the eastern end of this
section Teck has removed the
bridge over Redding Creek.
New bridge required

After crossing
Redding Creek
the route
ascends for 1 km

Approaching
Section 3 of the
PWL access road

Section 3 of the PWL
access road starts off at
32.5 km off the forestry
road route

Summertime View

Same area
in the Fall
This trail
segment would
be 10.5 km long

This 3rd section
would make an
outstanding trail

This section would be
very accommodating to
cyclists as the grades
are easy to moderate

Teck’s bridge over Redding
Creek has been taken down for
safety reasons. Opportunity for a
tram crossing?

Redding Ck onto St. Mary’s River and Lake
This section of the route is an
abandoned forestry road that is now
quite grown over. At the eastern edge of
this section the old bridge over
Meachen Creek has been removed.
Instead of building a
crossing over Redding
Creek, 6 km of new trail
could be constructed from
the eastern end of section 3
Long term options to develop trail south of St. Mary’s River if
community interest would support such an initiative. In the
meantime the forestry road would be adequate

St Mary’s Lake to Kimberley
Potential shorter
route on Crown
land and PWL
This route has been
established as the Trans
Canada Trail within the
Kimberley Nature Park in
2006
Off Road Options on the approach to Kimberley

Approaching Kimberley, the
Teck PWL access road
reappears on crown land and
could be utilized

Gaining elevation on crown
land just before entering the
Kimberley Nature Park

The Kimberley Nature
Park is one of Canada’s
largest urban parks
For 5 km, the TCT winds it
way through the Kimberley
Nature Park until it arrives
in the heart of Kimberley

Sharing the vision of the Trans
Canada Trail of Connecting Canadian
Communities Coast to Coast