Mara Northeast - Kamloops Trails

Mara Northeast – Kamloops Trails

Doug Smith  May 17, 2023 at 8:52 am

For 45 years I have been hiking up Mara Mountain.    There are several ways up, but the best one is from the northeast with the trailhead at the Pruden Pass Road.    the route climbs through grassland and open forest steeply up to a benchland pond, then steeply up to a shoulder of the mountain.  A trail can be picked up that winds southwest, down though the gully, then back up to the west summit viewpoint.     On the way back we made our own route up to the east summit and then back, an 8km, 3.5 hour hike.

For much of the route, there is open forest, allowing easy access on trail, or off. 

The pond on the shoulder (by the old Damgaard Homestead) was very shallow and will probably dry out this summer. 

We had lunch at the viewpoint at the top of the cliffs on the south side.   The river had risen and the Tranquille lowlands were flooding (we can kayak in there now). 

The hike is a pleasing one, but it is not an easy one.    There are steep sections, route-finding is required, and there is no trail for about half the route.   All photos by the author.   Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.

A few moments from the hike are captured on a YouTube video too:

We will be back to hike Mara Northeast in 2024.

 

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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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