Tumbler Ridge & Monkman / Full trip pack
Windfall Lake — Lake with upper circular return
Selected outing: Lake with upper circular return
- Published distance
- Unconfirmed Trip basis unconfirmed
- Elevation gain
- Approx. 430 m Terrain-model estimate; not a surveyed measurement.
- Walking time
- Unconfirmed
- Difficulty
- Hard Loop
complete loop with shared approach and upper circular return; mapped measurement shown with the itinerary
https://hikingprincegeorge.com/hikes/windfall-lake?route=windfall-lake-circular-return
Climb to Windfall Lake on the direct trail, then use the steward-described marked upper return from the southeast camping area to reach the ridge viewpoint and descend to the main trail. Retrace the lower approach to the trailhead. This option adds navigation and exposure beyond the direct lake return.
1. Getting there and parking
From Tumbler Ridge, drive about 25 km north on Highway 29 and turn onto Bullmoose Mine Road. After approximately 17 km, turn left onto Windfall Creek Forest Service Road. Stay straight at the kilometre 9 junction, cross the bridge and continue over the pass around kilometre 14. Turn left near kilometre 23 and follow the side road about 1.8 km to its end at the deactivated Windfall Creek crossing. The trail sign and outhouse are on the right. Use the currently posted radio channel and industrial-road procedures; the steward lists RR32 for this approach.
2. Walking the route
Follow the forest trail through occasional boggy ground, cross the creek and climb through open draws and meadows. Keep right at the signed junction around kilometre 3.5 for the direct lake approach, climbing the steps before the ground levels near the basin. Return the same way in poor visibility. The optional circular return starts near the southeast camping area and follows tall marked posts uphill beyond treeline, then northeast to a viewpoint and down left through a meadow to reconnect with the main trail. This upper return requires better navigation and weather judgement than the direct route. Pinnacle Peak, the high lake ridge and Tunnel Mountain are additional mountain trips, not automatic parts of the lake walk.
Mapped outing: Windfall Lake signed trailhead. 10.0 km measured along the mapped line; published trip measurements may differ.
3. Route 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 loop
Start: Windfall Lake signed trailhead · Finish: Windfall Lake signed trailhead (10.0 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
The WNMS description identifies an optional upper return from the southeast lake camping area, over the viewpoint and down to the main trail. The named Circular Route in the licensed source chain ends exactly at earlier source vertex144 on the approach. Appending the existing approach vertices143 back to0 in reverse closes the intended outing without any invented connector. This preserves the different ascent and descent branches.
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/643603747. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Windfall Lake recreation project location | 55.021007 -121.618598 | Source-published recreation project point; not verified parking or trailhead. https://delivery.maps.gov.bc.ca/arcgis/rest/services/mpcm/bcgwpub/MapServer/404 |
5. Camping, facilities and seasons
Camping and tenting
The lake has six designated tent pads, food lockers, a washing station and an outhouse in the steward’s description. Campfires are prohibited because of the fragile setting and lack of suitable wood. Use the established sites, carry a stove and pack out waste; confirm current facility condition before relying on it.
Season and access
The alpine ridges are often windy and cloud can arrive quickly. In poor visibility, reverse the direct lake trail instead of attempting the circular alpine return. Snow can conceal posts and junctions early or late in the season.
How the elevation gain was established
Outing: loop outing from Windfall Lake signed trailhead; 10.04 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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