---

The Mall Arkey Weekly Column

8/3/2007 Exploring the Shuswap Okay, okay. It’s the long weekend. What are you going to do with your guests? It has to be something that doesn’t cost money, preferably something that will tire them out and send them to bed early. Let’s see. What does the Shuswap have to offer? How about a picnic at the top of Mount Ida? Take the gravel road off Salmon Arm’s Foothill Drive by the cemetery and drive all the way up to the notch between the two peaks. There you’ll find a parking area and a steep trail that leads up to one of the most spectacular lookouts in Canada. Take plenty of water and be careful. Parts of the trail border a thousand-foot drop. The climb should poop out all but the hardiest of hikers. If you’re into exploring, there’s a hot spring to find at the back of Mount Ida. Take the road to the new Canoe Creek golf course and continue up the open area logged after the fire. The road turns north toward the trees and then makes a sharp left and heads west. At that point you’ll find a trickle of water crossing the road. Park the car and enter the forest on the high side of the road. There’s no trail. At least there was none the last time I was there. You’ll have to clamber over deadfalls and brave clouds of mosquitoes, but about 200 meters into the gloom you’ll find s the pool of water at the base of the cliff. That’s the famous Mt. Ida Hot Springs, and the first thing you’ll notice is that the water isn’t hot at all. If this is a hot springs, it’s one of the many that never get above 20 degrees Celsius. If you come to the point where the road ends in a T, you’ve gone about a kilometer too far. There’s another spectacular lookout above Sicamous. Turn off the Trans Canada Highway at the Abide With Inn, drive down the Solsqua-Sicamous Road for two kilometers, turn left on Queest logging Road, climb up the switchbacks about five kilometers until you see another logging road to the left, and drive about three kilometers out to the rickety platform that the hang gliders use to fly out over Shuswap Lake. The road is scary and the turnaround is tight, but the view is unbelievable. There’s a great place to picnic and swim at Tiilus Landing on the rugged west shore of Shyswap lake south of The Narrows. Go to the far end of White Lake and follow the logging road east 10 km until it descends to the lake. You can also reach it from the logging road that climbs into the mountains above the Totem Pole Resort, but the road is steeper and less well traveled. Exploring the Shuswap on logging roads like these is always an adventure because you can never be sure you’ll end up where you think you’re going. I haven’t visited any of these places in two or three years and the roads may no longer be passable. The Forest Disservice now obliges logging companies to “decommission” or rip up all but the trunk roads to prevent folks from using them. You may find that your favorite backwoods route is now negotiable only by Jeep or all-terrain vehicle. Needless to say, it’s always a good idea to travel the back roads with a cell phone, a good saw, water, and some survival gear in case you break down. There are a great many out-of-the-way places in the Shuswap to explore. I own and old Jeep and I’d be interested in hearing about your favourites.

[Weekly Column] - [E-Mail] - [Home] 315-360 Trans Canada Highway SW  Salmon Arm BC  V1E 1B6 Phone: (250) 832-5000 Fax: (250) 832-5317 Toll Free: (866) 249-6300 mallarky@sunwave.net

Copyright ©  2000  Mall Arkey Investments  All Rights Reserved since March 11, 2002

A work in progress of Harrier Web Dynamics. E-mail your comments to webmaster