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Hikes · Upper Fraser & Sugarbowl · Sugarbowl–Grizzly Den

Sugarbowl Mountain — Sugarbowl ridge

Climb the narrow forest trail up the north side of Sugarbowl Mountain. The lower route passes through cedar and hemlock before reaching a more open, lightly wooded subalpine ridge. Above the forest, markers are less dependable and poor visibility makes the ridge harder to follow. This option turns around on the ridge rather than continuing to Sugarbowl’s summit. The 2002 park brochure places the ridge about 5 km from the trailhead with approximately 900 m of gain; those are historical one-way figures for that stopping point. Return down the same forest trail. The full summit hike and the Viking crossover have different distance and navigation requirements.

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

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Distance
10 kmRound trip
Elevation gain
Not establishedThe source lists 900 m with the outward route. Any climbing on the return is not established; this is not a verified complete-return total.
Walking time
Not published
Difficulty
Not ratedOut and back

one way, February 2002 park brochure The round-trip distance is calculated from the published one-way length.

Map & elevation

Opening the map…

Elevation profile

Full round trip · approximately 7.3 km mapped

Complete out-and-back elevation profile, starting at Sugarbowl trail entrance at Highway16, reaching Sugarbowl ridge turnaround, and returning to the start750 m1225 m1700 mOutwardReturn0 km1.8 km3.6 km5.5 km7.3 km
StartSugarbowl trail entrance at Highway163.6 km · turn aroundSugarbowl ridge turnaround7.3 km · back at startSugarbowl trail entrance at Highway16
Explore the elevation with the chart or slider.

Approximate terrain elevation. Mapped distance may differ from the published hike distance.

Map and elevation sources

Approximate ground elevation from a 90 m terrain model. Distance follows the mapped itinerary and may differ from published walking distance. This is a terrain-model profile, not a surveyed measurement. Any ascent total is identified separately with its own source or estimation method.

The Highway16 trail entrance is established by an exact shared OSM road/trail node. Source vertex134 lies38m from the official Sugarbowl Ridge waypoint. Selecting only the approach up to that point produces the shorter ridge outing, returned along the same trail. The summit and Viking connection are excluded.

Route source 1Route source 2Route source 3Route source 4Route source 5Route source 6Route source 7

Copernicus GLO-90 terrain elevations via Open-Meteo (CC BY4.0); linework: Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0 · checked 2026-10-18 · CC BY4.0 elevation data; Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0 linework. Copernicus DEM 2021 GLO-90 via Open-Meteo. Linework source: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/542191535. Sampled and rounded for display.

Complete mapped outing from Sugarbowl trail entrance at Highway16, including the return on the same route. Line source (opens original source).

Getting there & parking

Travel east from Prince George on Highway 16 to the signed Sugarbowl trail parking on the south side of the highway, approximately 78–80 km from town depending on the stated starting point. This is a highway trailhead, separate from the Hungary Creek forest-road approach used for Grizzly Den and Raven Lake. The trail starts at the southeast corner of the parking area.

Driving access has not been established for this selected route option; check its original sources.

Map position: 53.89255, -121.66126 · destination reference point. Converted from official degrees-decimal-minutes; datum unstated; not field-verified This point is not a confirmed starting point for the selected route option.

On the trail

Climb the narrow forest trail up the north side of Sugarbowl Mountain. The lower route passes through cedar and hemlock before reaching a more open, lightly wooded subalpine ridge. Above the forest, markers are less dependable and poor visibility makes the ridge harder to follow. This option turns around on the ridge rather than continuing to Sugarbowl’s summit. The 2002 park brochure places the ridge about 5 km from the trailhead with approximately 900 m of gain; those are historical one-way figures for that stopping point. Return down the same forest trail. The full summit hike and the Viking crossover have different distance and navigation requirements.

Conditions & seasons

The park supports snowshoeing and backcountry skiing, but snow-covered slopes add avalanche exposure. BC Parks asks visitors to avoid routes marked for summer use while snow remains on the slope. The summer ridge line is not 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.

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Camping & overnight plans

BC Parks identifies developed backcountry camping at Raven Lake and Grizzly Den, rather than a serviced campsite on the Sugarbowl ridge. No designated summit tent pads were established by the reviewed sources.

Photos of Sugarbowl Mountain — Sugarbowl ridge

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

Surrounding area and context

These photographs provide context; they do not establish the appearance of this selected route or facility.

Fraser valley from the summit of Sugarbowl Mountain, July 2015
Fraser valley from the summit of Sugarbowl Mountain, July 2015.Sugarbowl - Grizzly Den Provincial Park and Protected Area.jpg (opens original source) · Newfoundlandguy · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens original source) · 2015-07-04 07:00:30. Wikimedia thumbnail downloaded; Wikimedia resized the original. Display may crop the view. Any adapted CC BY-SA version retains that image license.

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 mapComplete mapped outing and source locationsElevation sheetProfile of the complete mapped outingSave 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://nrs.objectstore.gov.bc.ca/kuwyyf/sugarbowl_grizzlyden_brochure_53146eed08.pdf (opens original source)
  2. https://bcparks.ca/sugarbowl-grizzly-den-park/ (opens original source)
  3. https://nrs.objectstore.gov.bc.ca/kuwyyf/sugarbowl_grizzlyden_waypoints_c18ea15d07.pdf (opens original source)
  4. https://routing.openstreetmap.de/about.html (opens original source)
  5. https://caledoniaramblers.ca/trails/sugarbowl-mountain (opens original source)
OpenStreetMap line references (3)

These contributor-mapped features support the map geometry. They are separate from the written access and route sources.

  1. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/542191535 (opens original source)
  2. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/11936713 (opens original source)
  3. https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/1677520093 (opens original source)
Other route names still being researched (1)

These names appear in source inventories, but an individual walking guide has not been established yet.

  • Sugarbowl Ridge/Bench–Nordheim Couloir

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