Colley Lakes / Porcupine Cabin

Map & elevation

A reusable trail line has not yet been verified for this outing. Any location pin shows the published location described above; it does not draw the hike or establish a navigable approach.

Getting there & parking

On Highway 5 near Clemina Creek, use the steep pipeline/logging-road turnoff on the east side of the highway. About 3 km along, turn left onto the smaller steep forest road marked by a small hiker symbol. Continue several kilometres; a large drainage ditch makes high clearance essential. The trailhead is approximately 1 km beyond the ditch and is marked by a yellow cabin/YORA sign. Use the steward’s access-road map to identify the forks, because ordinary driving directions may end at the highway turnoff.

Map position: 52.59122, -119.07584 · trailhead. source-published; not field-verified

On the trail

Follow the route from the Porcupine Cabin area toward the upper basin and its three alpine lakes. The approximately 4.5 km outward distance involves about 700 m of climbing, sidehill travel and extensive boulder negotiation, so it is substantially harder than that short distance may suggest. Flagging can stop or be difficult to see; identify the continuation before leaving the last clear marker. The local guide reports deteriorated wooden crossings, which require assessment rather than blind reliance on an old track. The lake basin contains wet peat, creeks and rock slabs; return along a line you can safely reverse.

Terrain: boulder field · route finding · deteriorating bridges.

Conditions & seasons

The usual hiking window is late June through late September, subject to alpine snow and the forest-road condition. The cabin’s ski-touring history does not make the summer lake route a verified winter approach.

These are dated research notes. Open the trip planner for current available weather and advisory feeds; no alert found does not establish that a trail or road is open.

Check weather & available updates →

Camping & overnight plans

Porcupine Cabin near the trailhead is described as sleeping about four people, with an outhouse, basic cookware, a wood stove and a cooking stove that needs the visitor’s own propane canister. Confirm the booking contact and current equipment with the operator before relying on those facilities. The guide does not establish serviced camps at the upper lakes.

Photos of Colley Lakes / Porcupine Cabin

A photograph with confirmed reuse permission has not yet been added to this guide.

Original photo galleries

These galleries stay on their photographers’ original websites.

• Colley Lakes Trail & Porcupine Cabin — photographs (opens original source) · Hike Valemount / YORA