High Country Sportswear
is an outdoor gear and clothing store
in Cranbrook, BC
www.highcountrysports.ca
Also share your backcountry experiences of any kind with me! Save everyone the frustration of driving for hours on a backroad only to find the last bridge has been pulled or there is a huge impassible washout. Also tell us about the roads that are new, or rebuilt.
The East Kootenay stretches for 200 km north and south in the southeastern part of BC between the summits of the impressive Canadian Rockies and the height-of-land in the rugged Purcell Mountians. See Map
Post Your Road Conditons Comment!
Tell me what you found out on the remote backroads!
See Last Year's 2008 Road Forum with most of the work and road access completed or repaired.
See also the new edtion of the East Kootenay Hiking Guide Book page.
| 2009 Road Forum | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Road Name | Description, Location, or GPS coordinates | Other Details | Sent From |
| Aug 24 - Sept 7, 2009 |
Spillimacheen-McMurdo Forest Service Road West of Parson (access to Silent Pass – TFL 14) will be closed to all traffic. | This closeure is to facilitate the removal and replacement of two (2) bridge structures. |
August 24, 2009 until September 7, 2009 (or until further notice) | BC Forest Service |
| Aug 5 2009 | McMurdo Road has been cleaned up, it took most of the day on Saturday. Bugaboo FS Road was cleaned up late in the day on Friday. |
Bridge/culvert works on the Spillimacheen North Fork (McMurdo) will commence as previously noted. |
BC Forest Service | |
| July 31 \ | Urgent notice: Road conditions are changing daily if not hourly due to the extreme weather we are experiencing this year. Where avalanche paths exist many roads may be partially covered with residual debris. With the downturn in the economy and most industrial operations shut down we have very few eyes/resources in the back country. Caution is advised on all roads and back country travellers should be aware of rapidly changing weather conditions and stream flows which may affect road conditions. |
I received a call today that McMurdo is closed at the 49.9km due to a mudslide. I am trying to get an excavator mobilized to address the slide but best case scenario it won’t be before tomorrow and quite possibly not until early next week. Also, between the BC Forest Service and Tembec we will be replacing 3 structures on the N. Fork of the Spilli then McMurdo from August 21 to an undetermined date, therefore access particularly to Silent Pass area will be closed during this time. |
BC Forest Service | |
| July 31 \ | Repaired Aug 20, Currently the Bugaboo is closed by wind-fallen trees at or around the 30km mark (quite a distance from the parking lot). |
I don’t know how extensive the windfall is but CMH cannot address this before tomorrow at the earliest and there are no other resources in the area unless a member of the public is packing a chainsaw. | Also Frances Creek FSR also repaired Aug 2009 in good condition. | BC Forest Service |
| July 31 \ | Repaired Aug 20, The Horsethief (LoHG) is passable at this time, however I have an excavator and rock truck cleaning up the last (largest) of 4 mudslides in that area. |
There may be short delays to traffic (38-40km), around the Stockdale Cr Recreation Site. | BC Forest Service | |
| 2009 Summer | Projects that we are going to do this year are: Grade Elk Lakes and spot gravel a big chunk of it.
|
This could all change when the new budget comes down in August/September. You can thank Bill Bennett our MLA for getting us the dollars for the Elk Valley Road. From BC Forest Service | BC Forest Service | |
| July 7 2009 | Roads reports for this summer so far |
Jumbo is open – condition fair-good (minor avalanche debris) Horsethief/Lake of the Hanging Glacier is open Trail is likely still snowed in at this time and the footbridge across Hellroaring Creek will not be installed until end of June/early July. Forster open – good condition Bugaboo open – good condition Swansea open – good Windermere open – good Delphine is open – very rough/high clearance vehicle beyond 2km No other known access issues at this time. Ram/Roam FSR beyond the Ram hot springs remains closed (between hot springs and Upper Lussier River FSR) for environmental reasons. Meachen Creek is now open all the way tp HourGlass Lake trailhead and is in good shape. |
BC Forest Service | |
| 2009 | Reports from work done and completed | Flathead is open. Hartley Sulphur and Bull River are open, grading is complete, Summer Lake is open and graded. Wildhorse is open and graded and you can drive to the Bear Lake hiking trailhead. Lakit Lookout is open all the way to the parking lot. Elk Lakes road is open to Elk Lakes park (road is rough though). Grey Creek Pass is open and rough in spots. White Boar Lake is open on Meachen but road is rough and rutted up at the end. Mause Creek to Fisher Peak is open and beyond to the Mause trailhead, road is rough and requires a truck. Phillips Cr. is open past Baldy Lake and has been graded. |
All these roads are open and in the condition stated | BC Forest Service |
| 2009 | Frances Creek FS Rd | High Clearance truck road in good condition to 17-km to the turnoff to MacLean Lake and crossing of Frances Creek - bridge pulled. | from AC | |
(Email Summary of the New Offroad Damage Legislation in BC. July 1997.)
Website design and photography by Janice Strong, copyright.
