Upper Fraser & Sugarbowl / Full trip pack
East Driscoll Trail
- Round trip
- 19 km
- Elevation gain
- Not established Gain not verified for this outing; older imported ridge and summit figures are absent from the current club page.
- Walking time
- 6 - 8 hours to summit
- Difficulty
- Hard There and Back
return to summit via east end; source gives 9.5 km one way
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.
1. Getting there and 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.
Drive from Prince George: 114.1 km · approximately 93 minutes. Estimate; allow for road conditions and stops.
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.
2. Walking the route
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.
3. Route map
Published locations only. A complete route line is still needed.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| East Driscoll Trail trailhead | 53.762816 -121.219080 | 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. https://nrs.objectstore.gov.bc.ca/kuwyyf/driscoll_trail_d2260c3fd0.kmz |
5. Camping, facilities and seasons
Camping and tenting
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.
Season and access
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.
Dogs
Dogs must stay leashed; BC Parks discourages pets in backcountry areas.
Measurement 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.
Additional source maps
Map 1: https://nrs.objectstore.gov.bc.ca/kuwyyf/driscoll_trail_d2260c3fd0.kmz
Your trip notes
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