Pemberton BC to Bella Coola off road?

Hey folks,

I'm mulling on a possible trip looping out of Vancouver, BC, up to Bella Coola off-road as much as possible, and then ferry down to Port Hardy and back down the island and across to home.

Vancouver to Pemberton is straighforward, and looks like my best bet is just take Hwy 99 (alternate suggestions? Is there an alternate way to get to Pemberton?) From there to Gold Bridge is straightforward, and some ride reports here make it look very enticing.

I've looked over the latest off-road mapbooks for the areas north of there, and it *looks* to me as though I should be able to take Taughton Lake Rd, Swartz lake FSR, and then a 4WD track across a set of passes there to and make contact with the Gaspard - Red Mtn FSR. This crossover is really I think the big question mark - anyone have any feedback on this or an alternate route from the Pemberton side to the Cariboo side of the mountains by dirt road?

Once up on Gaspard I know those are pretty good roads, I've been back in there once and they were all good dirt roads with logging bridges. I'm thinking continue north up Chrn Ck FSR (maybe even up to Farwell Canyon to check out the dunes and petroglyphs), then South Chilcotin to Big Creek (another question mark; is this a real settlement or just a spot on the map?) From there probably Fletcher Lk Rd north, into Hanceville for gas, probably hop Hwy 20 to Bull Canyon park (more petroglyphs), - from there maybe backtrack to Alexis Lake Rd. Planning gets sketchy at the moment from here; I could head towards Chezacut or Redstone, then hit the Puntzi Lk FSR, Jorgensen FSR, then try to crossover (?? looks liek there's a connection?) to Holtry Ck FSR which should take me pretty much right in to Anahim Lake. From there to Bella Coola I think I'm out of options other than Hwy 20 but it sounds interesting enough in this part. From there, the ferry and back home is easy...

So, anyone out there with any experience relevant care to speak up? I've got plenty of gravel-road experience (including wet and muddy, I'm OK with that) but little to none of real hardcore dirt-bike / river crossing / etc. and I'm planning to do this on a Sherpa with the camping gear strapped on. Was thinking generally - beginning of June onward, and hoping to give myself 9 days for the trip.

I'd be appreciative for anyone with insights / experience across the segments mentions to comment as they see fit!

There is an alternate to the Sea to Sky highway to Pemberton. Its called the Harrison west FSR. I can't comment on what kind of shape it is in but you should be able to find out more info from the Chiliwack forest service closer to your departure date.

I know a bit about the route you are talking about but be aware that there has been alot of logging over the last few years in the Taughton lake area so the route you plan on taking might be different due to that.

There is quite a bit of action up there by the 4x4 guys from Vancouver. Check out the Herd Of Turtles 4x4 club website and even the BC4x4 website. Those folks have done runs over Windy Ridge (in the area) in the past and could be quite helpful in planning a route.

Check over at Dualsportbc.com as well.

I know that the FSR on Harrison is washed out currently, as you can see here:

http://www.dualsportbc.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=9662&forum_id=1

Thanks, Jeckyll and Mercenary! This time of year the only fun part of the trip is the planning so I'll dig into the suggested info sources.

Good Afternoon, I have ridden the route from Gaspard to Goldbridge, although in the reverse direction you will be taking. We have done it two years in a row and it is a beautiful trip. The one problem you may have is after swartz lake, there is an extremely steep hill that takes you up to the top of the plateau near the bottom of poison mtn. I have never went up the hill, only down, and it will be a tough go, depending on trail conditions! You will definitely want some decent tires! There is an alternate route from the end of Yalakom road that takes you to the base of poison mtn again, but avoids the technical section. The trip through swartz lake is beautiful though, with some creek crossings (not too deep in july) and some great trails. Fuel up in Goldbridge when you leave, and the Sherpa will get you through no problem, my wife rode her sherpa through, i packed gas for her and fueled her up after 160km, but i don't think she would have needed it, but it was peace of mind. As for the rest of the trip, you can and should go see Farwell canyon, although you will need a side trip for fuel before you head over to Big Creek. There is usually fuel in Lee's corner, and always in Redstone, it is the best bet for fuel along hwy 20. Anyway, pm me if you want more info, I live in Williams Lake and have ridden most of the areas you are going. Cheers

Richard

Richlief - excellent info, thanks! I'll PM you for more detailed info.

I've ridden the Swartz lake to Gaspardi several times including going up the big hill after the 3 Churn Creek crossings... The hill while being steep gave good traction when dry and was not much of a problem for our fully loaded 650 class bikes... It could be a little sketchy in the rain.... Also the creek crossings could be interesting if there is any amount of precip to build up the flow... We went through in late June and on one occasion the water was up and added some spice....

I prefer the route to the interior from Swartz lake to Yalacom and then over China Head rather than Gaspardi/2800, it is a much more intense scenic route... You get to take in the Big Bar ferry and some of the steepest public roads in Canada... And you could also use the Bridge Canyon/Yalacom road route Richlief Mentioned to get to China Head as well and avoid the Swartz lake technical stuff...

Gunnerbuck, Thanks. I'll pull my maps tonight and check out the Big Bar alternate route. I may PM you later if you don't mind for more details on the creek crossings, etc.

Think of the route from Mud/Swartz Lakes through Poison MTN and over Chinahead as a trail rather than road... Once you get down the hill from Chinahead it goes back to reg F.S. road and then watch for signs and a left turn to take you down to Big Bar...

This is a ways off the beaten track and should not be tackled solo unless your a very experienced rider{and even then things can go wrong}...

Hmmm... so you think I need to coerce someone into joining me for this? I may have a few victims, errr, partners, in mind already ...

I can't claim to be an experienced trail rider, although I can claim years of solo backpacking experience in areas equally (or more!) remote. These days I also have the luxuries of a GPS and a satellite phone, but the whole appeal of these sorts of trips for me is not getting myself into anything I can't get out of *without* outside help. A buddy to help apply the band-aids and/or drag bike out of creek bed might be a good idea though. If nothing else, they can take the incriminating photos before helping to lift said bike

similar routing for the next leg of the Mobius Trip. I'm also having trouble with the Gold Bridge to Farewell canyon section. We'll be on lightly loaded Drz's, the third week of May. I have some tracks I've downloaded, from various sources, but I'm not sure if they were actually ridden, or created using Mapsource.

On GoogleEarth, I can follow the roads / trails from Gold Bridge to here:
N51 08.459 W122 44.164 right around Mud / Schwartz Lakes, then I start to lose it until here:
N51 13.338 W122 39.510 where I can clearly follow the road to Farewell Canyon.

Anyone have tracks that bridge these two points?

Dr Rock - if you can get your hands on "Backroad Mapbook" 2nd edition 2009 [Cariboo Chilcotin Coast BC volume; see (www.backroadmapbooks.com) ] it shows at least 2 separate logging roads which can connect through - a lot more detail than you'll get on google maps. I've been carrying on some PMs with posters in the thread getting info on creek crossings etc; so far it sounds doable.

(If you can't get a copy of the map I reference, let me know - you really just need a single page out of it and there's probably ways to get you that )

I would wonder a bit about creek depth with a May date - depends I guess on spring runoff weather.

Yeah, I have that one... the north BC as well, and the new edition of the Vancouver coast & mountains on pre-order. I see the two roads you mention on the map, however I can't follow them through on GoogleEarth's satellite images, and that usually spells trouble. (not googleMAPs -- they're not even there).

If I can't obtain ridden tracks of a known-good passage through that Mud lake area, we'll skip Hurley pass & Gold bridge after running the East Harrison - Texas Creek dirt route to Lilloet, and just carry on north (Pavilion-Clinton rd to Kelly Lake - Jesmond rd (High Bar rd - Big Bar rd loop if that's possible -- looks fun) then Meadow lake rd to Gang Ranch rd to Farewell Canyon and pick back up there. That'll save having to do the 60miles of pavement backtracking south from Lillooet to Pemberton.

BTW, I'm pulling the road names off the Icybus Topo CA maps which are free and totally rock. Great detail.

I'll PM you the draft of my routes/tracks/waypoints as a .gpx file. It's still kind of messy as I'm juggling a few options, but maybe it'll be helpful.

The link route Mud/Swartz Lakes to Gaspard...

..looks nice! That's not the kind of terrain which is making me nervous (although that's prime bear area from the look of it, something to keep in mind if I'm camping solo) - got any photos of the creek crossings or steeper bits?

You do see the odd bit of Grizzly sign about along these routes...

This is the crossing when the water is down, pretty casual...


A bit of a stony track on Chinahead {over 7000'}



Track between Swartz and Poison MTN.


Swartz Lake


This is the only picture I have of the Swartz hill... This rider is right at the top where it levels out.. You can see the behind the 2 on foot where the ground falls away and around a tight bend.... I didn't find any difficulty going up this section with a travel loaded 640....

Wow.... fantastic photos! Ok, that water crossing looks OK even for me I'm sold.

Yeah, nothing we haven't seen on the TAT.

Though, I'll still have to keep an eye on snowmelt, we'll be there May 16th, 17th or so.

tracks?

I realize this is an old thread, but does anybody have a map of this trip? Any idea how the roads are? Trip distance? Any info would help, going this late spring.

Mudgutstwo-this is an old thread, I am going up here in the summer it looks like so have had this thread saved for a very long time. For your mapping and GPS Check out http://www.graveltravel.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78:tcat-introduction&catid=1 for the Trans Canada Adventure Trail, there's a part that is around Chilko lake, and you could do the TCAT on Vancouver Island as well, but book your ferry to the Chilcotin early as it books up quick in the spring. Also, this area is totally worth checking out, but forest fires are an issue, and Mud Lakes doesn't open up until mids-mmer (fire time), so tough to fit in. See Youtube for more reviews.