McBride & Robson Valley / Full trip pack
McBride Peak
- Round trip
- 4 km
- Elevation gain
- 450 m Published route measurement
- Walking time
- 4 hours
- Difficulty
- Moderate There and Back
return from upper road parking
Alpine walks include McBride Peak and longer ridges toward Teare Mountain. High road access changes hike length.
1. Getting there and parking
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.
- From Highway 16 just east of McBride, take Mountainview Road to the McBride Peak forest-road approach.
- 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.
- 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.
Road and vehicle: The access is a steep, rough, single-lane mountain road. McBride Tourism specifies 4WD beyond the Halfway area; published odometer distances differ between guides.
Drive from Prince George: 222.6 km · approximately 236 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
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.
- From upper parking, follow the established path toward the former fire lookout.
- Continue toward McBride Peak northeast of the lookout area; tourism describes a further 1.5 km from the lookout to the summit.
- Teare Mountain and the longer ridge traverses are separate extensions. Stay on established alpine paths and avoid cornice edges.
The return
Retrace the summit and lookout approach to the same parking. Starting at Halfway rather than upper parking adds substantial road walking.
3. Route map
Government recreation-project geometry is an overview reference. It may contain branches or historic alignments; current access and a continuous navigable itinerary are not established.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| McBride Peak source-published trailhead / parking waypoint | 53.336921 -120.130177 | 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. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ |
| 1. Trail access trail access | 53.336921 -120.130177 | Named point on source trip map; position and feature type retained as factual observations. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ |
| 2. Recorded viewpoint viewpoint | 53.340355 -120.110135 | Named point on source trip map; position and feature type retained as factual observations. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ |
| 3. Recorded viewpoint viewpoint | 53.348656 -120.107903 | Named point on source trip map; position and feature type retained as factual observations. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ |
| 4. Recorded viewpoint viewpoint | 53.353472 -120.110779 | Named point on source trip map; position and feature type retained as factual observations. https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/mcbride-mountain-trail-in-northern-bc/ |
5. Camping, facilities and seasons
Camping and tenting
The club describes a camping spot in a saddle about 2 km southeast of the forestry lookout toward Teare Mountain. It gives no reservation system or installed tent-pad facilities there.
Toilets
The club identifies a pit toilet at the Halfway site, along with picnic tables and fire rings. This does not establish a toilet at the upper parking or summit.
Season and access
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.
Practical details checked 2026-10-17.
Measurement notes
4 km
450 m
Your trip notes
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