Monkman Lake Trail

A nice overnighter that takes you into the heart of Monkman Park.

Statistics

Directions

From the town of Tumbler Ridge, follow the signs to Monkman Provincial Park. The road into (and in) the park is rough, but 2wd accessible, depending on how much you love your vehicle. Park at the Kinuseo Falls Campground, 3 km past Kinuseo Falls themselves.

Details

Some trails you hike for the trail itself. Some you hike for the destination. This is one of the latter. The trail is pleasant, which is hiker code for "mostly in the trees." There's one extended section on a limestone ridge that, while not above treeline has some sections where you're out of the trees. But at around the 13 km mark, the trail drops off the ridge and is in thick trees for the rest of the hike to the lake.

Monkman Lake is a very nice lake. The trail has been extended through Monkman Pass, and is now 59 km one way to Hobi's Cabin. The trail dead ends here, on the banks of the Herrick River. To get out, you'll need to arrange for a pick up by helicopter or jet boat out of Prince George. A third option would be to go up before-hand and leave a canoe, but the road that parallels the far side of the Herrick is rough and nasty.

There are campsites at km 6 and 13 as well as the lake itself. There are also campsites at Shire Falls and Devil's Creek, but to access these sites, you need to leave the main trail and hike down to Monkman Creek. These side trails also take you to the Cascades, a series of ten waterfalls in a matter of a few kilometers. In 2005, the campsite at Shire Falls was damaged in a fortunately small fire that started from an poorly extinguished campfire.

Photographs

GPS Waypoints

This entry does not have any waypoints available for it.