The forested trail to Mt. Baldy was burned in the 2023 forest fire season and was closed until recently. Over the last few years, Shuswap Trails and volunteer organizations have cleared danger trees, replaced footbridges, and rerouted trails past eroded areas. After the fire, the burned forest started to regenerate and annual plants made some areas overgrown, but those areas were cleaned up for our hike in early October.
The route was an 8 km hike taking about 3 hours (inc. lunch). the trail winds up through mixed forests, across some small creeks, through a cedar forest, then an aspen grove, up to an open forest ridge. Baldy is not really a mountain. It is a ridge of Squilax Mountain. The lookout area is on the ridge with views to the north and east. At one spot, we had views down to Shuswap Lake and the mouth of the Adams River. At the main viewpoint there are wide views up Shuswap Lake to Copper Island farther east toward the Narrows. The area at the viewpoint was burned and is still fairly barren, but it is a good spot to lookout toward Sorrento and both sides of the lake.
We finished the Aspen Loop, then rejoined the main trail back down to the parking area. The trail is not officially listed online as open yet online, but the signage at the trailhead and along the trail does not indicate it is closed and it all seemed fine to us. We enjoyed the hike and hope to return to do it again soon.
Shared here are some photos taken on the hike in a Google Photos slideshow:
- Click an image to go the album (where captions can also be seen)
- More information from Shuswap Trails on the trail (access, maps, info., etc.) – Mt. Baldy
- Video – Mt. Baldy Wildflowers
- Video – Watch for a new video on the YouTube Channel – RambleOn
