Mr. Coffee
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- A Demented Corner of the North Cascades
This is almost 400km of (mostly) unpaved grade-separated trail.
The good: I'd say most of the distance was very good surface, mainly luxury gravel. The very best sections were between Grand Forks and Cascade, just out of Penticton, and the Myra Canyon sections. Also this is where you'd most likely see other cyclists. Interesting scenery and decent resupply options were available along the route.
The not so good: some sections were quite rough, in particular past Chute Lake to Bellevue Trestle. That section is on a BC Ministry of Forests logging road and is dominated by potholes that were often easily three meters across and after a rainstorm would have shin-deep water in them. Other sections had a lot of active ATV use which tore up the trail surface and often made for difficult riding.
The just plain ugly: Long waterless sections. The section from Chute Lake to Hydraulic lake (about 30km) had no available water, and E from Hydraulic lake you were also looking at 20+km between decent water sources. So have the capacity to carry at least 2L of water and probably 3L is better.
The real ugly: there are long sections where you won't be able to charge your bike. There are for sure no charging options between Chute Lake and Beaverdell and between Christina Lake and Castlegar. Both of those are over 100km so you'll need the range to pull this off. You might have better luck if you arrange this as a supported trip or use an acoustic bike for this trip.
Some other notes:
You can water up at Chute Lake resort, and also buy a decent lunch there.
Hydraulic Lake campground is kind of a rip-off, $28 for a flat spot, a rotten picnic table, and an outhouse. But really the only realistic camping option for many kilometers in either direction. Water is from the lake and is sketchy even with treatment.
The railroad line was spec'd with a 2 percent grade, which works out as almost imperceptibly gentle uphills and downhills over the whole distance. The steeper sections are usually where the trail had to reroute off of the railroad right-of-way.
I resupplied at Beaverdell, Rock Creek, Greenwood, and Christina Lake. There are multiple full-service grocery stores in Penticton and one in Grand Forks. The cheeseburger at the food truck in Beaverdell was memorable. The market in Greenwood had a lot of locally grown fresh vegetables.
There are tunnels! Some of them are quite long and you'll want decent bike lights. A headlamp is probably very inadequate.
Some sections have gates where you cross private property. Be sure to close and secure the gates as you pass through.
Most GPS routing apps will wildly overestimate the elevation gain and loss due to the many tunnels and deep rock cuts the right of way traverses.
Around Grand Forks the trail may be confusing due to construction and development in the area. Have some good maps and ideally offline maps on your phone.
I met two guys just W of Bellevue Trestle who were six days out of Castlegar. It took me four long days of riding between Penticton and Castlegar. I only met two other bicycle tourists. Around Myra canyon there were literally hundreds of cyclists though.
The first 20km or so out of Penticton is a very pleasant day ride and you go past a bunch of places to stop and eat.
Pass Creek Regional Park is a few miles off the route near Castlegar and has decent hiker-biker accomodations, showers, wi-fi, and bear proof storage lockers for your food. https://www.rdck.ca/EN/main/service...ional-park-and-campground.html?media=contrast
The good: I'd say most of the distance was very good surface, mainly luxury gravel. The very best sections were between Grand Forks and Cascade, just out of Penticton, and the Myra Canyon sections. Also this is where you'd most likely see other cyclists. Interesting scenery and decent resupply options were available along the route.
The not so good: some sections were quite rough, in particular past Chute Lake to Bellevue Trestle. That section is on a BC Ministry of Forests logging road and is dominated by potholes that were often easily three meters across and after a rainstorm would have shin-deep water in them. Other sections had a lot of active ATV use which tore up the trail surface and often made for difficult riding.
The just plain ugly: Long waterless sections. The section from Chute Lake to Hydraulic lake (about 30km) had no available water, and E from Hydraulic lake you were also looking at 20+km between decent water sources. So have the capacity to carry at least 2L of water and probably 3L is better.
The real ugly: there are long sections where you won't be able to charge your bike. There are for sure no charging options between Chute Lake and Beaverdell and between Christina Lake and Castlegar. Both of those are over 100km so you'll need the range to pull this off. You might have better luck if you arrange this as a supported trip or use an acoustic bike for this trip.
Some other notes:
You can water up at Chute Lake resort, and also buy a decent lunch there.
Hydraulic Lake campground is kind of a rip-off, $28 for a flat spot, a rotten picnic table, and an outhouse. But really the only realistic camping option for many kilometers in either direction. Water is from the lake and is sketchy even with treatment.
The railroad line was spec'd with a 2 percent grade, which works out as almost imperceptibly gentle uphills and downhills over the whole distance. The steeper sections are usually where the trail had to reroute off of the railroad right-of-way.
I resupplied at Beaverdell, Rock Creek, Greenwood, and Christina Lake. There are multiple full-service grocery stores in Penticton and one in Grand Forks. The cheeseburger at the food truck in Beaverdell was memorable. The market in Greenwood had a lot of locally grown fresh vegetables.
There are tunnels! Some of them are quite long and you'll want decent bike lights. A headlamp is probably very inadequate.
Some sections have gates where you cross private property. Be sure to close and secure the gates as you pass through.
Most GPS routing apps will wildly overestimate the elevation gain and loss due to the many tunnels and deep rock cuts the right of way traverses.
Around Grand Forks the trail may be confusing due to construction and development in the area. Have some good maps and ideally offline maps on your phone.
I met two guys just W of Bellevue Trestle who were six days out of Castlegar. It took me four long days of riding between Penticton and Castlegar. I only met two other bicycle tourists. Around Myra canyon there were literally hundreds of cyclists though.
The first 20km or so out of Penticton is a very pleasant day ride and you go past a bunch of places to stop and eat.
Pass Creek Regional Park is a few miles off the route near Castlegar and has decent hiker-biker accomodations, showers, wi-fi, and bear proof storage lockers for your food. https://www.rdck.ca/EN/main/service...ional-park-and-campground.html?media=contrast
