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northward.NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA
Hikes · Upper Fraser & Sugarbowl · Highway 16 East

East Driscoll Trail

Climb from cedar forest into open ridge glades on the east side of Driscoll Mountain. Choose a ridge or summit turnaround in advance; the rough west-ridge connection requires a separate navigation plan.

Sources reviewed . This is a research date, not a trail inspection.

Weather & trip plannerPrint guide & mapsSave offline guideDownload locations GPX

The locations GPX contains sourced points with their recorded roles. It contains no trail track or connecting route.

Distance
19 kmRound trip
Elevation gain
Not establishedGain not verified for this outing; older imported ridge and summit figures are absent from the current club page.
Walking time
6 - 8 hoursto summit
Difficulty
HardThere and Back

Map & elevation

Opening the map…

Elevation profile

A full-route elevation profile is not available yet.

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.

Original map 1 (opens original source)

Getting there & parking

Use the Ancient Forest visitor access on Highway 16 for the eastern side of the Driscoll Ridge system, then confirm the signed ridge-trail junction on the park map before leaving the lower forest paths. The eastern approach is a mountain trail beyond the short boardwalk visit; do not use the boardwalk’s short length as the distance to the ridge.

Estimated drive from Prince George: 1 hr 33 min · 114.1 km. Modeled one-way driving time from Prince George City Hall, using mapped road speeds. Forest-road sections can take substantially longer: surface, clearance, radio procedures, gates, washouts, plowing, and legal access are not verified by the router. No live traffic or invented forest-road multiplier is included. Allow extra time and check the dated access notes. Seasonal access notes apply; this estimate does not establish plowing or winter road access.

Open driving directions →

Map position: 53.76282, -121.21908 · trailhead. Official KMZ waypoint named Driscoll East Trailhead: -121.2190800647672,53.76281566217453. Eastern Driscoll access, near Ancient Forest. Position published by BC Parks; current access conditions remain separate.

On the trail

The lower ascent passes from cedar forest into spruce and subalpine fir before reaching a ridge with open glades and mountain views. The eastern source listing gives approximately 5 km to the ridge and 9.5 km to the summit, but does not supply a detailed contemporary junction sequence. The western ridge description confirms that the linking ridge traverse requires solid route-finding and has not been maintained recently. Select a clear turnaround rather than assuming an eastern climb can automatically be extended into a full loop.

Terrain: alpine.

Distance and elevation source notes

5 km to ridge (9.5 km to summit)

720 m ridge; 1200 m summit

Source comparison: Ridge; 5 km; 720 m ascent; to ridge; source scope to verify scope. This is another description of the main outing, a duplicate endpoint, an unscoped source claim, or a related facility.

Source comparison: Summit; 9.5 km; 1200 m ascent; to summit; source scope to verify scope. This is another description of the main outing, a duplicate endpoint, an unscoped source claim, or a related facility.

Source comparison: East trail to summit; 19 km; 6–8 hours duration; return; 9.5 km one way scope. This is another description of the main outing, a duplicate endpoint, an unscoped source claim, or a related facility.

The club page checked on 2026-10-19 lists ridge and summit distances but no elevation gain. Earlier imported claims of 720 m to the ridge and 1,200 m to the summit could not be confirmed and are not filterable ascent values.

Conditions & seasons

The high ridge has a different snow season from the low forest boardwalks. BC Parks provides avalanche-terrain information for Driscoll; a summer loop description should not be treated as a verified winter route.

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

Neither the western Driscoll parking area nor Ancient Forest parking allows overnight camping. Purden Lake is the nearby established campground identified by BC Parks. No serviced tent site was verified on the ridge itself.

Photos of East Driscoll Trail

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.

Take this guide with you

Choose a trip pack or an available individual sheet for your map case.

Full trip packDirections, planning notes & available mapsTopographic mapPublished locations; no trail lineSave offline guideDownload a copy to your device
Sources, dates & research notes

Descriptions are written for this guide from the linked evidence. Source review dates, published reports and field observations can differ. Photographs and route lines retain their own attribution and reuse terms.

  1. https://caledoniaramblers.ca/trails/east-driscoll-trail (opens original source)
  2. https://caledoniaramblers.ca/trails?page=1 (opens original source)
  3. https://bcparks.ca/ancient-forest-chun-toh-whudujut-park/ (opens original source)
  4. https://nrs.objectstore.gov.bc.ca/kuwyyf/driscoll_trail_d2260c3fd0.kmz (opens original source)
  5. https://routing.openstreetmap.de/about.html (opens original source)
  6. https://caledoniaramblers.ca/trails/west-driscoll-ridge (opens original source)
Details still being researched
  • Source does not publish numeric ascent or detailed turn-by-turn directions for the eastern approach.

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