ROAD ACCESS – Monashees

ROSSLAND RANGE ROADS 

44 Oak Street to Paulson ski area (Viking shelter): 80 km.

SULLIVAN CREEK ROAD: turn west off Hwy. 22 south of Oasis,just S. of where south-bound passing lane ends; gated @ 800 m.; a Teck private road; tried 10/08

MINE DUMP ROAD (LITTLE SHEEP CREEK?): turn R off Santa Rosa road 1.4 km. from Hwy #22; gated, but not always

WEST LITTLE SHEEP CREEK ROAD: follow Cascade Rd. past mine dump road and a shed on R; at km. 1.7, go R; Mt. Roberts spur goes L immediately; right fork goes for a few hundred m. and down to creek; skied 4/06                                       

MT.ROBERTS SPUR: keep L immediately after turning off Cascade Road onto W. Little Sheep Crk. Road; at km. 1.2, don’t go straight, go L; always follow the more distinct, red-flagged road; the road ends at km. 2.2 (4760′) at a good parking area; actually, it seems to continue, but is blocked by a fallen tree; flagged and cairned trail easily visible from road end carries on to the summit of Mt. Roberts; road mtn. biked 10/97; 4WD HC, probably LR in spots, but roadbed generally good skied 4/06; continued past parking lot and followed the road around to S. side of Mt. Roberts before leaving it for ski ascent of OK Mtn.

RECORD RIDGE ROAD: from the junction near Rossland Mine Museum, turn L & drive .4 km; turn R off the highway onto old Santa Rosa Road; at km. 11.9, Record Ridge Trail begins off-road to R; well-signed; first few 100 m. are an old road which gives way to trail; hiked in 9/97

GRANITE MTN. SOUTHSIDE ROAD: from Red Mountain Lodge take a rd. just to the N. that goes past some maintenance sheds (posted “no access” etc.); follow rd. as it switchbacks up to the W; somewhere in the first couple of km. a good rd. goes R, probably up the S. fork of Topping Crk.; keep L & pass under Granite Chair, then continuing W. up West Little Sheep Crk. valley; about km. 4.4, a very bad road. goes L & down to the bottom of Paradise Chair; past km. 6, a rd. goes R to top of Granite Chair; do not take & go straight up grassy slopes to the Granite-Record col (km. 7, 6250′); 4WD high clearance low-range 1st gear; last 800 m. muddy and challenging; drove in 10/97

“CROWE ROAD”: from Nancy Greene Pass, leaves highway just north of pass; keep R at first junction (handmade signed “Crowe Road”); peters out into block; parked at 356-508, 5581′ GPS; driven 07/08

HANNA CREEK ROAD: begins on the west side of Hwy. #3B, 19.2 km. S. of Nancy Greene junction, or 10.2 km. S of “Nancy Greene Summit”; not a driveable road; signed at bottom as Old Glory Trail; can walk on a trail in roadbed for about 1 hr. to a juncion where the trail to Mt. Grey goes straight through the col and the Old Glory ridge trail goes up and to the right of it; by this junction, the road has pretty well disappeared; Old Glory trail can also be accessed right at the road bend at Hanna Creek (many flagged and confusing access points); for Mt. Kirkup/Grey be sure to start at km. 19.2

NEPTUNE FSR: turn east off Hwy 3B 17.5 km. south of Nancy Greene jct; signed Neptune FSR; heads S. down Murphy Creek, then back up Neptune; Spur 2 (signed) goes L @ km. 9.5; Spur 3 (signed) goes L @ km. 10.3; a road goes R @ km. 10.7 at a switchback to the left; then Spur 5 (signed) goes R @ km. 10.7; Spur 6 (signed) goes R @ km. 12.2; Spur 7 goes R @ km. 14; go R @ km. 16.7; fork @ km. 17.3, go L; bend R at switchback @ km. 18.3; road becomes an old one for 300 m.; road ends in cutblock @ km. 19.4; last 2 km. are 4WD; driven to end at 409-516, 5700′ 10/08; then hiked ski cat cutline to summit of Mt. Mackie

NEPTUNE CREEK BRANCH R: goes R off Neptune FSR @ km. 17.3 (not signed); keep up & L @ km. 18.4 (lower branch ends in a cut block); stopped by a berm on road @ km. 19.3 (5150′ GPS 424-509); 4WD HC LR lst gear in waterbars; driven 10/08;

COLLEGE CREEK FSR: turn L or S 8.1 km. W. of the Columbia Ave. bridge on Hwy #3; for the first km. a variety of spur rds. go R & L; followed mainline to km. 4.8; good quality 2WD this far

COLLEGE CREEK SPUR RD.: turn R off College Crk. FSR at km. 4.8; followed this for 4.4 km.; switches up & basically heads W & S; 4WD & overgrown with alder in places, but driveable; beyond km. 2, much alder has been cut and left on roadbed a la Farnham Creek road; beyond km. 4.4, road was getting more overgrown & hard to bike; biked in 9/98

MACKIE FSR: turn L or S about 17.3 km. W. of the Columbia Ave bridge on Hwy #3 in Castlegar (3450′); immediately cross Blueberry Crk. on the concrete bridge; spur goes R @ 300 m; follow good 2WD road through cut blocks and across a creek (was unable to locate road on the map that’s just to W. of creek crossing); spur R @ 5.7 km; spur goes R @ km. 8.9 drove to km. 8.9 01/12 (plowed) 413-573 5230′

MACKIE SPUR 2 (km. 8.9): turn R off Mackie FSR; 4WD with overgrown alder (could barely see); drove .9 km. in 9/99; follow road on foot to landing; continue to Mt. Mackie via cutblocks & N. slopes; continued from km. 8.9 on skis, keeping R beyond km. 12 and into cutblock (5770′ 407-561) to ascend Mt. Mackie, 01/11/12

MACKIE SPUR 1(km. 5.7): from 410-589, 4800′, walked this spur into next drainage to W: first S. to 5000′ and then back N. a way (1 hr.); would be 4WD but do-able; couldn’t find the road on the map that continues S

11 MILE N. FSR/HALSEY RD/N. RIDGE FSR: another big haul road on the N. side of the highway just opposite the Mackie FSR turnoff at about km. 17

GEM HILL FSR: on N. side of highway #3; 69 km. from Nelson; 2 km. east of Nancy Greene Junction; fork L & R right at beginning; took #R & skied for ca. 1.5 km. in 03/07

SHIELDS FSR: on N. side of Hwy #3 just E. of Nancy Greene Jct.; 71 km. from Nelson; road L at .7 km; spur R at .9 km. (bermed); old road L at km. 2.5; faint road R at km. 3.3; Branch 1 goes R at km. 3.8; bend L at km. 5.1 (older road goes straight; sign saying “Shields” points to L); Branch 3 goes R at km. 7; the old road goes L at km. 7.4; Branch 4 goes R at km. 9; faint unsigned Shields road goes L at km. 9.1; Cross a bridge over Shields Creek at km. 11.1; driven 10/03; mostly 2WD; 4WD useful on the hill coming up out of Shields Crk. canyon;

BRANCH 1: goes R off Shields FSR @ km. 3.8; this might be the road that goes to col SE of Gem Hill; we skied down and across it on 1/31/07

“OLD SHIELDS RD”: turn L off Shields FSR at km. 9.1; drove 1.2 km. on good roadbed; stopped by alder; walked to the junction with Big Sheep Creek Road in 2 hrs; would be driveable for maybe two more km.; near the top, it’s covered by a dirt slide; obviously used for full length by ATVs and snowmobiles; drove and walked 10/03; 4WD

MITCHENER CRK. FSR: on N. side of Hwy #3 13.3 km. W. of Nancy Greene Jct.

BIG SHEEP CREEK FSR: on N. side of Hwy #3; 77.1 km. from Nelson; lesser road L at km. 2.9; lesser road R at km. 4; Spur 1 goes R at km. 5.2; The good road goes R at km. 6.4 (keep L); good road goes L at km. 7.0 (keep R); at either 3.6 or 2.8 the very faint Shields Road comes in on R; continued 2-3 km. on foot to S side of Mt. Shields; driven and walked 10/03; 2WD except for muddy logged area past km. 7;

UNNAMED ROAD R AT KM. 6.4: at km. 1.2, took L fork; ends in cut block at km. 1.5; drove 10/03; 2 WD;

BULLDOG FSR: turn north off Hwy. #3 @   W. of Nancy Greene jct.; go L @ km. 1.8; go L @ km. 4.4 (road R says “Atco”); go R. @ km. 5; go straight @ km. 11.4; go R @ km. 13.5; drove to km. 21.8 by gate and junction (206-687, 3700′); walked left-hand fork, an ATV road, to the Bulldog lookout in 55 min.; road continues down and to N.; driven 10/07;

BONANZA CRK. FSR: turn L. off Hwy. #3 15.8 km. W. of Nancy Greene Jct.; there is a big Encom gravel pit at the beginning of the road; @ 300 m. reach a jct. with sign showing snowmobile tracks; take the L fork; @ 600 m. bear R; @ km. 2.9 Orion 200 goes R (keep L); at km. 7.5 bear R; at km. 10.3 road ends at a landing (2WD car all the way); beyond the landing, the road continues as a bike & 4 quad track into cut block on N. side of Mt. St. Thomas; driven 9/99

PAULSON DETOUR ROAD: turn R off #3A 93.1 km. from Nelson & 19.5 km. W. of Hwy 3-3A jct; (that’s E. of the Paulson Bridge); @ km. 1.3 Walker Rd. goes R; @ km. 2.5 reach a 3-way jct; McRae Rd. goes R; Paulson Detour Road goes L & down; abandoned railway line goes straight

MCRAE ROAD: turn R off Paulson Detour Rd. @ km. 2.5; Farron Road (signed) goes right @ km. 7.2; McRae Spur (signed) goes right @ km. 9; cross abandoned railway line (Ferron) @ km. 9.2 onto Dog Rd.; driven 6/06 & 10/06 & 8/07 & 06/09

DOG ROAD: cross abandoned rail line @ km. 9.2 on McRae Road and this becomes Dog Rd. (km. signs still measured from the start of McRae Road); at km. 11 (always from hwy.) see the culvert and trail on L going to Peter Lake (did not notice); Dog Creek bridge (signed & km. 9 sign) crossed @ km. 11.6; repaired bridge @ km. 17.1; Branch 100 goes straight (signed) @ km. 19.4; follow Dog left and sharply uphill; Dog 300 goes right @ km. 23.8; gate @ km. 21 sign; Faith Road (signed) goes right @ km. 24.9; driven 10/06, 8/07, 06/09; 2WD good quality continuation of Dog might go into cut blocks on SE side of Mt. Hope, giving very good access with little bush whacking; 5525′ 125-692;

FAITH ROAD: goes R off Dog Rd. @ km. 24.9 from pavement (22.4 from start of McRae road; keep straight on mainline @ km. 26.2; bear right @ km. 26.5; cross South Faith Creek bridge (signed) @ km. 26.7; Faith 300 spur goes right @ km. 26.8; the road ends at bottom of the cut block above S. Faith Creek @ km. 28 (125-692, 5525′); 2 WD with some water bars; driven 10/06, 8/07 & 06/09

ABANDONED RAILWAY LINE: turn off Paulson Detour @ km. 2.7; drove 2.7 km. to Mt. Gladstone trailhead 10/99; 2 WD

KETTLE RIVER FSR: connects Westbridge to Monashee Hwy.; 116 km. of 2WD; drove 7/00

SOUTH FORK FSR: turn N. off Monashee Hwy. ca. 18 km. W. of Kettle River FSR; 21 km. of 2WD to parking lot for the Pinnacles; see Hiking Trails, Vernon Outdoors Club, for details; drove 7/00

CARMI ROAD: turn W. off Hwy. 33, 16.3 km. N. of Beaverdell; not explored but have been to Carmi on the rail line

ARLINGTON ROAD: turn W. off Hwy. 33, 24.8 km. N. of Beaverdell; not explored but have been to Arlington Lakes on the rail line