Valemount & Mount Robson / Full trip pack
Mica Mine and ridge
- Round trip
- 9.65 km
- Elevation gain
- 1,018 m Published route measurement
- Walking time
- 6–8 hours return
- Difficulty
- Hard Out and back
return to ridge above the mine
Old mining trail reaches alpine workings; ridge ascent has no trail.
1. Getting there and parking
From the Tête Jaune Cache area, take Blackman Road and then Old Tête Jaune Road. Before the railway crossing, turn onto Sand Creek Forest Service Road and follow it for approximately 7.6 km to the Mica trail sign. The local guide recommends a high-clearance four-wheel-drive vehicle and warns that porcupines have damaged vehicle brake components near the parking area. Confirm current road condition and practical vehicle protection before leaving the car.
Road and vehicle: The local guide recommends a high-clearance 4WD vehicle for the trailhead road.
Drive from Prince George: 285.9 km · approximately 269 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.
2. Walking the route
Climb the narrow, steep trail through forest toward the former mica workings in the alpine. The mine area is the first main objective and can be a turnaround. For the ridge extension, climb the steep slope above the workings; the local guide explicitly describes this upper section as untrailed, with loose and slippery rock rather than a maintained summit path. The ridge gives views toward Mount Robson, the Robson and Canoe valleys, and Kinbasket Lake. The true mountain summit lies farther beyond intervening peaks and is not included in the ordinary mine-and-ridge outing. Return carefully down the same steep approach.
3. Route map
Official recreation project linework; may contain multiple trail sections or historic alignments, not a verified complete hike
Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia. · Line source · Open Government Licence – British Columbia
Partial elevation profile
Partial elevation profile
This chart covers only part of the route. It does not establish the full hike or a return journey.
3.78 km along source section 1 of 1, in its mapped direction.
Approximate 90 m terrain model along this mapped section. Separate sections are not joined. This chart does not measure total trail ascent or establish current access; use the guide’s published outing measurements.
Copernicus GLO-90 terrain elevations via Open-Meteo (CC BY4.0); linework: Open Government Licence – British Columbia
Copernicus DEM 2021 GLO-90 via Open-Meteo. Linework source: https://delivery.maps.gov.bc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/whse/bcgw_pub_whse_forest_tenure/MapServer/9. Sampled and rounded for display.
Source: https://open-meteo.com/en/licence
Licence: CC BY4.0 elevation data; Open Government Licence – British Columbia 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mica Mine and ridge trailhead | 52.920683 -119.497012 | source-published; not field-verified https://hikevalemount.com/mica-mine/ |
5. Camping, facilities and seasons
Camping and tenting
No designated campsite, nearby toilet or reliable overnight facility was identified at the mine or ridge. Treat this as a self-sufficient day outing unless a separate authorized overnight plan has been established.
Toilets
No nearby toilet is identified by the local steward.
Season and access
The local guide recommends late June to late September in clear weather. Rain can turn the lower trail into a drainage channel and makes the rocky upper slope slippery. Cloud can conceal the route above treeline; the historical mine does not provide a weatherproof shelter.
Mobile service
The local guide reports intermittent cell reception.
Practical details checked 2026-10-17.
Measurement notes
9 km
1018 m
The older Ramblers narrative suggests roughly 5 hours return to the mica workings and 6 hours including the ridge; current operator guidance separately gives a 6–8 hour return outing. These endpoints and time estimates should not be silently treated as identical.
The map line and elevation profile cover the provincial approach to the historic Mica Mine, about 3.78 km along the stored line. They do not show the complete ridge extension or a return itinerary; the 9.65 km published outing remains a separate metric.
Your trip notes
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