This is a very pleasant trail located on the west side of the valley north of Highway 3 on Mt. Midgeley with views of the Creston Valley for much of the way. There has been a trail here for many years to a trapper’s cabin originally built in the 1980s. It is now owned by the Ministry of Forests and the Trails for Creston Valley Society is granted permission to use it.
Note this is part of Darkwoods and requires a permit.
The cabin can be booked via the webpage: https://www.crestonvalleytrails.ca/midgeley-cabin.
There is a licensed trapping line in the vicinity of the cabin so no other hunting is allowed in the area. Motorized vehicles being used for hunting purposes are not allowed past 12.5 km on Topaz Road.
Location: West of Creston and north of Highway 3.
Difficulty: Easy A1
Elevation Gain: 155m
Distance: 5kms round trip
Time: 2.5 hours
Season: Early July to October. Late fall is a nice time to visit with alpine larch trees turning golden and few insects.
Access: 4 WD road. Parking minimal
Map: 82F/2
Drive: One hour from Creston. Travel west from Creston on Highway 3.
0.0km. Turn right immediately after going over the Summit Creek Bridge onto the logging road. Zero odometer. Put your truck or car into 4-wheel drive. Stay on the main logging road and do not turn off
3 km. Turn left onto Topaz Forest Service Road. This is an active logging road so use Huscroft Channel if you have it in your truck or drive with caution as logging trucks may be coming down.
11.5km. Right at a fork.
12km. Left at fork.
12 ½ km. Pass Spur 4. Go about 50 m further and the road splits again. Take the right fork which is marked Mid Topaz.
28.5kms. Stay on this road until 16 km where you will see pink ribbons on either side of the road. This is where the trail starts.
Route/Trail:
Climb Mt. Midgeley. Use the cabin as a base camp. The trail starts as a 75m long flagged section through an old clearcut to reach the real trail. The route to the summit (2150m) has not been cleared yet but is a fairly obvious bushwack to the left (south side) of Mt. Midgeley Ridge which is visible from the cabin. Once on the ridge it is an open walk to the peak. Views are of Kootenay Lake and almost as far as Bonners Ferry. Follow the very comfortable grade with views of the valley.
Please note that access to Midgeley Lake is not available from this trail as the lake is located on private property (Nature Conservancy of Canada; please refer to their website for permission to enter Darkwoods lands.)
