Mount Cheam (Spoon Valley Trail)
You are being shown a specific revision of this resource. Information being shown may be historical or not approved by a moderator.
A prominent and popular peak just east of Chilliwack
Statistics
| Total Distance: |
8.4 km (return) |
| Estimated Time: |
4.5 hours |
| Average Grade: |
15.8% |
| Structure: |
Linear - Return |
|
|
Elevation Gain:
|
715 m |
| Start Elevation: |
1447 m |
| Min Elevation: |
1397 m |
| Max Elevation: |
2112 m |
|
Directions
Follow Highway #1 (Trans-Canada Highway) to Chilliwack, taking Exit #119 South. Follow Vedder Road until a three-way stop just before a bridge over the Vedder River. Zero your odometer here and turn left at the stop sign onto Chilliwack Lake Road. At the 28 km mark and immediately after one of the Vedder River bridge crossings, turn left onto Chilliwack-Foley Forest Service Road. Zero your odometer again here.
Follow the forest service road for 2.0 km, turning left at the T-junction after the bridge over Foley Creek. Travel west for another two kilometers, turning right on to Chipmunk Creek Forest Service Road next to a large gravel pit. Continue to the parking area at the Mount Cheam trailhead, ignoring all of the branch roads and following the most obvious track the entire way.
Although the occasional beat up car has been known to make it to the trailhead, a 4x4 vehicle is strongly recommended. The road is extremely rough - it's not uncommon to see 2-wheel drive trucks stopped on the side of the road, the owners with confused looks on their faces as they wonder how they can make it to the top.
Details
At the above starting elevation, there is a large parking area and a barricade, so travel on foot must begin at this point.
Continue along the old road, and in roughly 20 minutes, you'll begin on the actual trail, which drops down roughly 50 metres into a lovely subalpine bowl, complete with a swimming hole.
The trail cuts along the side of this bowl, and then begins ascending the west face of Lady Peak, and eventually gains a col between Lady and Cheam Peaks.
The trail now begins rising and switching back and forth along the SouthWest face of Cheam, until the summit is achieved.
Allow a good 4 hours return time from the parking lot to the summit and back.
Photographs
GPS Waypoints
| Trailhead |
N49.16826 W121.69392 |
10U 595207 5446982 |
| End of old road |
N49.17353 W121.68533 |
10U 595823 5447579 |
| Bridge |
N49.17413 W121.68304 |
10U 595988 5447648 |
| Spoon Lake |
N49.17446 W121.68017 |
10U 596197 5447688 |
| Upper pond |
N49.18009 W121.67779 |
10U 596359 5448317 |
| Jones (Wahleach) Lake viewpoint |
N49.18144 W121.67557 |
10U 596519 5448470 |
| Talus ridge |
N49.18605 W121.68269 |
10U 595991 5448974 |
| Summit |
N49.18667 W121.68214 |
10U 596030 5449043 |