Mt Carlyle Lodge

If you like Backcountry hiking then you will love this place. Access from New Denver and booking at www.skihikebc.com. Available for hiking from the lodge or for the famous Sourdough Traverse which connects to Idaho Peak. The hike to get to the lodge passes through historical mining claims.

Idaho Peak Van Shuttle

John Matthews from Silverton has stepped up to the plate to offer a shuttle service up Idaho Peak this summer. We are stoked. See his website at http://idahopeakshuttle.ca/

I am hoping to be on every single shuttle ride either hiking, taking photos, paragliding, mountain biking or getting some more history on the area.

Paraglider launching from Idaho Peak

If you have ever been to Idaho Peak and seen a paraglider launch and wondered what it would be like. Well, here it is. 

History of Sandon video

Best Shorts Walks around New Denver

These walks or hikes are about than an hour each way. They are all "must do" trails.

1. Idaho Peak.
Incredible alpine walk to the old fire lookout overlooking the Slocan Lake above New Denver, Silverton and Sandon. Open from late July/early August until the first snow in the mountains. Plan on at least an hour drive each way, 2 hours for the walk and visit the Sandon Museum for another hour on your way.

2. Molly Hughes Cabin
Old mine trail follows Slocan lakeshore departing from Bigelow Bay in New Denver. Pleasant walk about 20 meters above the lakeshore for about 30 minutes. Great views of Lake and Valhalla mountains from vicinity of Molly Hughes Cabin. Beach accessible at end of walk. Easily accessible for a quick morning or evening walk.

3. Bannock Point Trail
A beautiful walk through the forests above Slocan Lake and ending after 40 minutes or so on a steep rocky bluff 200m overlooking the Slocan Lake. 2km south of Silverton an unmarked dirt road turns right and goes downhill to the gravel pit. Below the gravel pit there is Forestry signs and display maps of the trail and camping area at popular Bannock Pt.

4. Galena Trail
This might be the most famous trail in New Denver and popular with all ages for hiking, running and biking. Drive to the top of the Galena trail at the junction of Hwy 31a and Sandon Rd. Walk the wide and well maintained Galena Trail about 2km to the well photographed Cable Car crossing. Ride the cable car and return to your car. A more adventurous return trip involves a short steep hike through the  ruins of the Alamo Mine at the cable car site to the old Sandon Rd and continuing left back to the car.

5. New Denver - Mori Trail, Bellevue St and Carpenter Creek.
Everyone walks around New Denver looking at the shops, houses and the views of the Valhallas, Slocan Lake and Idaho Peak. A nice loop can be made by parking on 6th Ave ( Main St ) and walking Kildare St to Bellevue and dropping onto the Mori Lakeside Trail and then back up again whenever the mood takes you. Continue along the lakeshore until blocked by Carpenter Creek and follow the trail along the creek and return to your car.

6. Wilson Creek Falls
Hidden in the thick forest and canyons crashes this 30 meter waterfall. A large volume of water is always flowing down the Wilson Creek sending lots of mist into air keeping the area cool even on the hottest days. Follow East Wilson Creek FSR 10km and stopping before the bridge over Wilson Ck. The road is signposted on the right and gets a bit rougher and steeper to the trailhead 1 km away. Plan on 45 minutes each way.

7. Nemo Creek or Wee Sandy Creek Waterfalls
You need a boat for these ones as they are located on the other side of the Slocan Lake in the Valhalla Provincial Park. 30-40 minutes in a canoe or 10-20 minutes in a motor boat will get you there. The walks are as short as 5 minutes. Wee Sandy is a rocky beach perfect for skipping stones and Nemo Creek is a beautiful sandy beach. A 30 minute loop at Nemo gets to the upper falls which is well worth it. A 20 minute trail at Wee Sandy on the south end of the beach gets to a scenic overlook.

Idaho Peak photography

With snow still on the south side of idaho peak we are wondering when the road up to Idaho peak will open. Bets are on early August.

Idaho Peak 360 video

Link to my Photo Gallery

Idaho Peak Road Still Closed

It will be a couple more days until the snow is clear from the Idaho Peak Road at KM10. An avalanche last winter dropped snow and trees on the road in Wildgoose Basin. Some moterbikes made it through today but there is still 5m of snow to clear and some small trees and one large tree to clear from the road. Someone will need a chainsaw and a big truck and chains to pull the tree off the road. On the flipside the hike from the basin is incredible with an awesome display of wildflowers from the meadow all the way to the peak on both north and south facing aspects.

Link to my Photo Gallery

Wildgoose Basin Idaho Peak Closed

We heard about a snowslide across the Idaho Peak road so investigated. This photo is taken at the small campsite at the bottom of WildGoose Basin. You can drive easily to about 200m before this point and then it is walking. There is about 2 meters of avalanche debris for about 200m which will take a little while to melt out. Unless there is some kind of machinery used to clear the trail it will be at least 2-3 weeks before the road is open. We talked to a few people that walked to Idaho Peak and they told us that the trail itself is clear of snow and easy going and of course well worth the hike. Start early whilst the snow is still firm.

Link to my Photo Gallery

Flying Idaho Peak again

It seems that there is a bit of interest again in paragliding from Idaho Peak. There are a few local pilots that have started paragliding lessons. I flew on Saturday for my first flight of the short season.

Link to my Idaho Peak Photo Gallery

Link to my Paragliding Photo Gallery

Thanks for chainsawing Wakefield Trail

Some awesome person must have cleared the trail up the Wakefield trail this spring. Great job. Clean all the way down. Thanks!!

It's still steep and still narrow and my brakes only just manage to get me down before they

wear out. 1 hour down the singletrack. 30 minutes out the wagon road / Silverton Creek access road. 2 and 3/4 hrs up from New Denver just putting along but not really stopping. Probably 6,000 ft of vertical.

Wildflowers on Idaho Peak

This is about the earliest I have been up Idaho Peak. We have had a pretty mellow spring this year - a bit of rain - and a bit of warm weather but nothing scorching. The wildflowers are just coming out in the alpine. I'm just a point and shoot digital camera guy. You will have to talk to Sara about the fancy wildflower shots.

Idaho Peak - Road Open

Not yet. Probably a reasonable rule of thumb is to wait until there is absolutely no snow on Idaho Peak facing New Denver. I rode up today and there is still about a 20m section with 2ft of snow just as you approach the Blue Grouse Basin sign at Km 10(?). The rest of the road is clear of snow and so easy hiking or biking for the next 2km to the ridge and the hiking trail is all clear. Probably by July 12th or so the road will be open all the way.

Paraglide Idaho Peak

Idaho Peak looms over Sandon, New Denver and Silverton. Sara Rainford managed to capture me paragliding over Kokanee Glacier with the moon rising. I flew for an hour or so before sailing off into the sunset and landing down at the New Denver Campground. My first flight for the year.

Video of Idaho Peak

Here's an old video from 1995 of me paragliding at Idaho Peak



and then this is a random video from you-tube of Idaho Peak

More Cycling on Idaho Peak

I found this story on a cycling adventure around New Denver and Idaho Peak - It's got some pretty good pictures.
Alternatively check out this video of a uni cyclist riding the trails around New Denver

Idaho Peak

Idaho Peak is one of New Denver's most spectacular attractions. Looming over the townsites of New Denver and Silverton the peak is the center of the mining history for the area. There is a road which travels 12 km from Sandon to the ridge top parking lot. A 30 minute hike along the ridge up to the peak and the old fire lookout offers incredible views of the Slocan Lake, Kokanee, Valhalla and Goat Range Provincial Parks and wildflowers covering all of the steep alpine slopes. The road is single lane dirt road not suitable for vehicles with low clearance, or oversized vehicles like campers. The road is open from early July until the snow flies again. I took my pedal bike up there yesterday from New Denver - 2 hrs 45 minutes at a nice steady pace. Link to my Photo Gallery