We continue to welcome ideas from the public or organized groups for projects. However, the B.C. Mountain Foundation is a funding organization. Projects must be presented to the BCMF with a budget, and be authorized by the province. A volunteer leader for the project must be identified. We rely on donors to fund the projects. Approved projects are those that have been authorized by the regulatory authorities and approved by the B.C. Mountain Foundation but may still require additional donations to proceed.
1. Watersprite Lake, new trail from campsite to Dreadnought col
The B.C. Mountaineering Club manages the Watersprite Lake Recreation Area for Recreation Sites and Trails BC ("RSTBC") under an agreement. The club administers a campsite at Watersprite Lake and hires rec site custodians to manage the site. The club also has a licence of occupation for the club's Watersprite Lake hut at the west end of the lake.
The recreation site is about twenty kilometers east of Squamish. It is reached by the Mamquam and Skookum Creek forest service roads. The Watersprite Lake trailhead begins at a large parking area next to the Skookum Creek run-of-river weir facility. The main trail runs about eight kilometers to Watersprite Lake.
RSTBC approved construction of a new summer hiking trail from the Watersprite Lake campsite to the alpine col east of the lake (unofficial name "Dreadnought col"). According to RSTBC, providing planned and properly laid out opportunities for visitors is part of a larger development strategy for limiting the impacts of high use in the alpine environment. The trail will begin at the campsite and rise 200 meters to the col over a distance of one kilometer. The trail extension will provide additional opportunities for visitors to explore the area and help disperse visitation beyond the lake shore and away from mountain goat habitat. Addressing impacts of recreation in the alpine and limiting disturbance of threatened mountain goat populations is a district and recreation branch priority for the province.
The trail will be built to a Type III or IV standard, per chapter 10 of the B.C. Ministry of Forests' Recreation Manual. Type III trails are single-file, up to 3/4 meter in width. Type IV is up to 1/2 meter in width.
We expect the trail to be popular with campers and day-use visitors. The campsite has twenty-five tent pads and sites for up to four persons each. It is open between Canada Day and Thanksgiving long weekends. The trail to the lake sees annual visitation of around 5,000 making it the most popular recreation site in the Sea to Sky district. On good weather weekends durring summer and early fall, hundreds of people hike to the lake. In 2024, the campsite saw 733 bookings and 1,055 person-nights.
The club will be flying contractors into the work zone in early summer of 2025 for a site inspection to enable contractors to prepare bids. The B.C. Mountain Foundation has set aside funds for the site inspection. We expect the club to receive detailed bids shortly afterwards. Upon contractor selection, the work will commence, hopefully by late summer 2025.
Construction budget ballpark: $70,000.
We received commitments from two organizations for $30,000, to date. B.C. Mountaineering Club has committed $20,000 and Valhalla Squamish Trail Fund has committed $10,000. That is a strong beginning. Let's get to $70,000.
2. Baden Powell Trail (Lawson Creek section) in West Vancouver, Phase 6
We are looking for phase 6 funding to work on the upper section of the trail.
Budget: $20,000
3. Fat Dog Creek footbridge replacement, phase 2—E.C. Manning Park
This project was initiated by the B.C. Mountaineering Club in 2023 to replace three washed out footbridges on the Fat Dog Creek trail in Manning Park. The first bridge was replaced in 2023. A further two footbridges are in need of replacement. The work in 2025 will replace one footbridge.
Budget: $8,000.
This project is fully funded.
4. Howe Sound Crest Trail North, Phase 4—12 km east of Britannia Beach
The B.C. Mountaineering Club has the long term vision to extend the Howe Sound Crest Trail north from Deeks Lake to Squamish. (Or, coupled with existing trails, from Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver to Squamish.)
Phase 4 will improve the trail between Mountain Lake and Mount Sheer. Funds permitting, the trail from Utopia Lake to Mountain Lake will also be improved.
