Ancient Forest — Universal access boardwalk

Selected outing: Universal access boardwalk

Round trip: 0.9 km
Elevation gain: Approx. 30 m
Walking time: Unconfirmed
Difficulty: Easy

one way; approximately 0.9 km returning along the same boardwalk

https://hikingprincegeorge.com/hikes/ancient-forest?route=ancient-forest-universal-access-boardwalk-40vcby

Follow the universal-access boardwalk from the visitor area into the cedar forest. BC Parks describes this accessible section as approximately 450 m one way; returning on the same boardwalk is a longer total than that single-direction figure. Stay with the signed accessible section rather than assuming the entire waterfall and forest trail system has identical gradients or surfaces.

1. Getting there and parking

Drive east from Prince George on Highway 16 for about 115 km, or west from McBride for approximately 103 km, to the signed Ancient Forest/Chun T’oh Whudujut park entrance. Turn into the main visitor parking area on the south side of the highway. This is the boardwalk access; the separate Driscoll Ridge approach farther west serves a strenuous mountain route.

Parking: Use the signed Ancient Forest visitor area off Highway 16, roughly 115 km east of Prince George. Driscoll Ridge has a separate parking area.

park entrance. Source-published approximate distance from Prince George; not a current routed travel time.

2. Walking the route

Mapped outing: Universal boardwalk entrance sign → End of the universal boardwalk → Universal boardwalk entrance sign. 0.9 km measured along the mapped line; published trip measurements may differ.

3. Route map

Opening the map…

The highlighted line follows the documented outing.

© OpenStreetMap contributors. Route geometry is available under the Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0. · Line source · Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0 · Source-line database: https://hikingprincegeorge.com/data/osm-route-lines.geojson

Elevation along the outing

Full round trip

Start: Universal boardwalk entrance sign · Turn around: End of the universal boardwalk (0.4 km) · Finish: Universal boardwalk entrance sign (0.9 km mapped).

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.

How the route order was checked

BC Parks explicitly describes the universal access trail as 450 metres one way. The OSM feature named Universal Boardwalk measures 449.5 metres and runs from within 4 metres of the named entrance sign to its eastern end beside the separate Driscoll trail junction. The entire single named boardwalk is retained and the return retraces it; Driscoll Ridge, the waterfall network and parking connectors are not included. The boardwalk feature carries wheelchair=yes, surface=wood and bridge=boardwalk tags, but these are not a surveyed gradient or current maintenance assessment.

Copernicus GLO-90 terrain elevations via Open-Meteo (CC BY4.0); linework: Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0

Copernicus DEM 2021 GLO-90 via Open-Meteo. Linework source: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1289221674. Sampled and rounded for display.

Source: https://open-meteo.com/en/licence

Licence: CC BY4.0 elevation data; Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0 linework · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Profile source checked: 2026-10-18

Published locations

Numbered points match the map. Use the role beside each point. A summit or park reference point is not a parking location.

Place and role	Coordinates	Source and notes
Ancient Forest historical published trailhead / parking area (2010)	53.762837 -121.217058	Ancient Cedar Forest parking lot: 53 45.7702 N, 121 13.0235 W (degrees and decimal minutes), PDF page 2. 2010 parking location. Park entrance has since been redeveloped; this marks the historical published access area, not a field-verified current parking bay. The tourism-hosted guide identifies itself as a research copy and says access, trails and amenities have not been updated. Coordinate provenance is verified; current access is not. Source date: 2010 https://mcbridetourism.ca/wp-content/uploads/McBrides-Green-Guide.pdf

5. Camping, facilities and seasons

Camping and tenting

Overnight camping is prohibited in both the Ancient Forest and Driscoll Ridge parking lots. BC Parks identifies Purden Lake, about 50 km west, as a camping alternative.

Water

The park has no potable water supply; bring drinking water.

Season and access

BC Parks describes winter snowshoeing on the forest boardwalk, with limited winter parking. Snow-covered boards and the availability of parking change the outing; the summer accessibility description does not guarantee a cleared winter surface.

Winter route

BC Parks describes snowshoe access on the forest boardwalk, with limited winter parking. A summer accessible-boardwalk designation does not establish a snow-cleared winter route.

Dogs

Dogs must remain leashed on the park trails, including the boardwalks. Keep the lead short enough to pass other visitors safely on narrow sections.

Accessibility

BC Parks describes this dedicated boardwalk as universally accessible and about 450 m one way. This applies to the boardwalk section; snow, damage and current conditions can change usability.

Practical details checked 2026-10-17.

How the elevation gain was established

Outing: out-and-back outing from Universal boardwalk entrance sign to End of the universal boardwalk and back; 0.90 km along the mapped itinerary

Copernicus DEM 2021 GLO-90 via Open-Meteo (90 m resolution). v7-smoothed-ascent-1: interpolate retained terrain samples at 100 m spacing; apply one triangular 1:2:1 smoothing pass over ±100 m; preserve start, finish and documented turnaround heights; sum uphill excursions with a 5 m reversal threshold; round to nearest 10 m.

Approximate terrain-model ascent, not a field or GPS measurement. Coarse cells and smoothing can miss small climbs, switchbacks, structures and sharp terrain. Processing sensitivity is not a statistical confidence interval.

Sources checked 2026-10-19.

Your trip notes

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