Outer Inks Trails on the Snow

Outer Inks Trails on the Snow

Doug Smith  December 17, 2020 at 9:00 am

The Outer Inks area has a combination of backroads and single tracks (ATV) in the forest.   In summer the tracks are used by motorcycles and a variety of 4WD, mountain bikes, quads, and a few hikers.   The lower area next to the main access road is sometimes a place for people to party or camp and there is rubbish and burned vehicles left behind.   but the upper area can be hiked, mountain biked, or snowshoed in the off-season.   When it has snowed and the roads are “iffy”, these trails are a good choice since the highway is ploughed, as is the Inks Lakes Interchange.   We parked at the entrance area and hiked in on the snow.

The whole area is a maze of trails and roads.   there are some motorcycle trail signs, but that won’t help much.   A map, a GPS, or a good mapping app is a must if hiking these trails.   But, having hiked all of the trails over the years, I knew all the turns by sight so we headed off on a combination of single and double tracks to do a loop route.

Our route took our small group past Dam Lake where we stopped for lunch as  the sun peered through the misty skies.

Since there are no viewpoints on the trails, a good route choice goes past one or more of the small lakes and marshes of the area.

contWe looped back on a different route, crossing Alkali Creek on a small bridge.

Our hike was 6.3 km taking about 2.25 hours.   There was no ice and no mud along the route, unlike all of the lower trails of the Kamloops area.   We walked on the snow, enjoying the quiet forest.   We will be back to snowshoe the trails this winter.

 

More information – Outer Inks Lakes

 

 

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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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