Williams Lake, BC. The 'River Valley Trail' to the Fraser River
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 17.5 mi
- Elevation gain
- 1,198 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 1,161 ft
- Max elevation
- 2,146 ft
- TrailRank
- 65
- Min elevation
- 1,250 ft
- Trail type
- One Way
- Time
- 3 hours 11 minutes
- Coordinates
- 2239
- Uploaded
- May 23, 2016
- Recorded
- May 2016
near Williams Lake, British Columbia (Canada)
Viewed 1686 times, downloaded 1 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Track starts at a small parking lot, just off the south side of MacKenzie Ave. N, near the foot of Comer Street. It begins with a short descent down a switchback dirt road to the valley bottom. Then follow the "River Valley Trail" to the west, all the way to the east bank of the Fraser River (11-km one-way). The trail crosses back and forth over the "Williams Lake River", which has eroded a small, steep-sided valley through thick formations of sand and gravel deposited at the end of the last ice age. The steep walls of exposed stratigraphy in the valley sides should be of interest to geologists.
If first down on the day, its possible you will disturb resting herds of deer or elk, which may bound off through the river or forest. Bear and cougar may also be in the area.
There is a large connecting network of more advanced mountain bike (MB) trails, some extreme. However, the saved track is wide, easy, mostly light gravel or packed dirt, with a few very-short coarser gravel sections, and only one short caution segment below the starting parking lot (see picture). There are no steep uphill sections provided you come back on the same route. Best with a mountain bike, however any geared bike with sturdy tires should make it.
The saved track finishes with a short vehicle loop around the town of Williams Lake, including the "Barking Spider Mountain Bike" shop where a good quality MB was available for day rental. The ending waypoint is at a small, authentic Italian Bistro.
If first down on the day, its possible you will disturb resting herds of deer or elk, which may bound off through the river or forest. Bear and cougar may also be in the area.
There is a large connecting network of more advanced mountain bike (MB) trails, some extreme. However, the saved track is wide, easy, mostly light gravel or packed dirt, with a few very-short coarser gravel sections, and only one short caution segment below the starting parking lot (see picture). There are no steep uphill sections provided you come back on the same route. Best with a mountain bike, however any geared bike with sturdy tires should make it.
The saved track finishes with a short vehicle loop around the town of Williams Lake, including the "Barking Spider Mountain Bike" shop where a good quality MB was available for day rental. The ending waypoint is at a small, authentic Italian Bistro.
Waypoints
Car park
1,886 ft
Parking
At the starting parking lot. Lots of serious-looking MB riders starting from here. This saved track is easy and gentle, so there must be more challenging options in the immediate area.
Photo
1,772 ft
Forest Pond
The trail follows the Williams Lake River, which occasionally broadens into meadows and quiet ponds.
Bridge
Panorama
River
Comments (2)
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glad you two have the opportunity riding together. hope someday I will be there. I wonder how you protect yourself from the animals like bear and cougar？ anywhere I walk around Shenyang are safe.
Just saw your comment, its not often we see dangerous animals, and there are precautions to take and rules to avoid trouble with them.