Coldwater Rail Trail - Kamloops Trails

Coldwater Rail Trail – Kamloops Trails

Doug Smith  August 9, 2023 at 8:58 am

A rail trail connecting to the Kettle Valley Railway Trails (Trans Canada Trail) connected at Brodie Station and went north, down the Coldwater River to the Brookmere Road. We used to hike a loop route from Brookmere to Brodie, then north across 7 trusses to a point on the Brookmere Road. The rail trail was also used by ATVs and mountain bikes. In 2021 a fire burned through the area, then in the following spring the Coldwater River flooded, washing out sections beside the river all the way down to Merritt and beyond. The Coldwater River Rail Trail was damaged and closed. I wanted to see if could still be hiked. What I found was washed out sections, overgrown trails, windfall, and a burned bridge. The route can be hiked, but it now requires fighting with overgrown vegetation, scrambling under, over, and around fallen trees, scrambling past sections where the trail is no longer there, and fording the river past the burned tress. I chose to hike it anyway.This is a scenic route in any season.  

The bridge that burned is about 2/3 of the way to Brodie.    All of the deck timbers are now unstable charcoal.    In summer, we can easily ford the river to continue.  

A few images of the down-and-back hike are provided here.    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.  

The return route to Brodie and back is 11.5 km, but it will be arduous so it may not be worth it.    A few moments of the hike are shared here:

 

 

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Doug Smith

Doug writes for Kamloops Trails, a not-for-profit (and ad free) website, offering information on trails, waterways, routes, featured spots, viewpoints, and explorations in the outdoors in the Kamloops area (and beyond).

Doug started exploring this area in 1976 and continues to follow tracks and routes wherever they lead, with the aid of map, compass, GPSr and camera. After many dead-ends, but also many discoveries, he chose to share this information.

The Kamloops Trails website has a massive number of interesting posts and would be of interest to anyone in Kamloops who enjoys the outdoors. Visit the Kamloops Trails website at: http://www.kamloopstrails.ca/

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