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Hikes · McBride & Robson Valley · McBride

McBride Peak

Alpine walks include McBride Peak and longer ridges toward Teare Mountain. High road access changes hike length.

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

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

Distance
4 kmRound trip
Elevation gain
450 mPublished route measurement
Walking time
4 hours
Difficulty
ModerateThere and Back
A northward view from McBride Peak
A northward view from McBride Peak on 1 August 2013.View north from McBride Peak (opens original source) · Jim Swanson · CC BY 2.0 (opens original source) · 2013-08-01. Downloaded provider display size; no local image edits. Display may crop the view.

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.

Getting there & parking

  1. From Highway 16 just east of McBride, take Mountainview Road to the McBride Peak forest-road approach.

  2. Use the lower trail-network parking about 1 km along the FSR for lower trails. The Halfway Lookout is around kilometre 6 in the tourism guide.

  3. Continue to the upper subalpine parking only if the steep road is suitable for your vehicle. Tourism requires 4WD above the Halfway area and prohibits motor vehicles beyond the upper parking.

Parking: The lower mountain parking and Halfway Lookout are alternatives when the upper road is unsuitable. Tourism places the upper subalpine parking around road kilometre 12; the club’s older odometer description ends around 10.6 km.

Full access notes

Leave Highway 16 east of McBride on Mountainview Road and follow the signed McBride Peak forest-road approach. The rough, narrow road climbs by repeated switchbacks. The halfway clearing around kilometre 5.5–6 is an option for parking and turning around when the upper road is unsuitable; the high alpine parking is roughly kilometre 11–12 in different published descriptions. Four-wheel drive is recommended for the upper section. Lower trail-network parking near kilometre 1 is a separate start, and any road walking from a lower lot must be added to the hiking distance.

Estimated drive from Prince George: 3 hr 56 min · 222.6 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: 53.33692, -120.13018 · source-published trailhead / parking waypoint. Embedded trip-map feature 'Trailhead': point [-120.130177, 53.336921]. Named access waypoint extracted from the original public trip map. Current road/parking conditions and legal access still require checking.

On the trail

  1. From upper parking, follow the established path toward the former fire lookout.

  2. Continue toward McBride Peak northeast of the lookout area; tourism describes a further 1.5 km from the lookout to the summit.

  3. Teare Mountain and the longer ridge traverses are separate extensions. Stay on established alpine paths and avoid cornice edges.

Full route notes

From the upper alpine parking, follow the established walking route toward the old forestry lookout and McBride Peak to the northeast. The club describes about 2.1 km from the upper parking to the peak, with a roughly 4 km return outing and 450 m of gain. Longer ridges toward Teare Mountain, the northwest or southeast are separate choices and require their own time and navigation plan. Stay on existing tread in the fragile alpine. In fog, identify the return line before leaving the lookout area, and avoid travelling on or below snow cornices along the north-facing ridge edges.

The way back

Retrace the summit and lookout approach to the same parking. Starting at Halfway rather than upper parking adds substantial road walking.

Terrain: steep rough access road · alpine route · cornice hazard.

Distance and elevation source notes

4 km

450 m

Conditions & seasons

The upper forest road is generally a summer access and may be blocked by snow or poor surface conditions. Cornices can persist on north, northwest and northeast ridge edges after lower ground is snow-free.

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.

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Camping & overnight plans

Staying at McBride Peak lookout

Overnight access needs checking

Historic fire lookout at the mountain destination. Current permission to enter or sleep in the building has not been verified; it is not presented as bookable accommodation.

Cabin sources · checked 2026-10-19

The halfway clearing has published picnic facilities and a pit toilet. A camping place is described in the saddle roughly 2 km southeast of the forestry lookout on the way toward Teare Mountain, but current facilities and overnight rules need confirmation. Do not assume every alpine viewpoint permits vehicle or tent camping.

Photos of McBride Peak

A northward view from McBride Peak
A northward view from McBride Peak on 1 August 2013.View north from McBride Peak (opens original source) · Jim Swanson · CC BY 2.0 (opens original source) · 2013-08-01. Downloaded provider display size; no local image edits. Display may crop the view.
A lingering summer snowfield on McBride Peak
A lingering summer snowfield on McBride Peak, photographed on 1 August 2013. Snow cover varies between years.Mountain scene from McBride Peak (opens original source) · Jim Swanson · CC BY 2.0 (opens original source) · 2013-08-01. Downloaded provider display size; no local image edits. Display may crop the view.

Original photo galleries

These galleries stay on their photographers’ original websites.

Take this guide with you

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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/mcbride-peak (opens original source)
  2. https://delivery.maps.gov.bc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/mpcm/bcgwpub/MapServer/280 (opens original source)
  3. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ (opens original source)
  4. https://routing.openstreetmap.de/about.html (opens original source)
  5. https://mcbridetourism.ca/adventure-outdoor/hiking/ (opens original source)

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