Albas Falls Hike
At the end of the first week of May, we drove east to Shuswap Lake, then out the North Shuswap Road and out toward the end of Seymour Arm, a 150 km route (each way) to hike the Albas Falls Trails. The Albas Site is part of Shuswap Lake Marine Park and it is often visited by boats. At this time of year, there were no boats in sight and no one else on the trails. The Celista – Seymour Arm Forest Service Road is a wide gravel road, with some logging trucks, but is a good road, although it was dusty. the turn down toward the lake has a small sign and the road into the is a narrow dirt road down to a parking area (to the left) for the Albas Falls Trails and to a campsite (to the right).
From the signed parking area we crossed a footbridge over Celista Creek and turned upstream and uphill, following the east side of the creek.
Celista Creek is bordered by damp forest, a combination of poplar, cedar, and fir with an understory of moss and ferns. The trail stays close to the creek. follows rocky outcrops and a winding route up to a footbridge across the creek.
There are series of waterfalls and cascades through the steep canyon, with many viewpoints along the way. In spring, there was a constant roar of water tumbling down through the narrow canyon.
We completed the loop trail, then headed out to the beach for lunch. At the point are long views to the west looking down Seymour Arm toward Ruckell Point/Cinnemousun Narrows area of Shuswap Lake (21 km) and east to the end of the Seymour Arm (7 km).
The drive takes about 2.5 hours each way and the total hike is less than 5 km, but it is not a quick, nor an easy hike so it takes over 2 hours. A trip to the Albas Falls Trails is a whole-day outing, but it is worth the time and effort.
Comments
Albas Falls Hike — No Comments
HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>