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With hiking season comes trail maintenance season and the Yellowhead Outdoor Recreation Association (YORA) has a number of projects on the go for the 2025 season.
The Association was successful in receiving a ReDi Grant through Columbia Basin Trust to improve five trails: McKirdy Meadows, Swift Creek Trail, Westridge, Cranberry Marsh and Camp Creek.
YORA President Patricia Thoni says they plan to use Resort Municipality Initiative money to improve five other trails that were not approved by ReDi including Mica Mine, Little Lost, Terry Fox, Colley Lakes/Clemina, and the Tete Jaune Spawning grounds.
Little Lost Lake
The association will be improving the trail that climbs to the waterfall by removing deadfall and improving safety along the upper 50m of trail by widening it out.
“The major thing is to cut into the sidehill so there’s a bit of a platform to stand on,” says YORA President Patricia Thoni. She says they will also improve directional signage near the top.
Swift Creek Trail
The association intends to re-route a stretch of wet trail under the Southern Traverse (for those that know the trail, it’s that typically boggy section right before you climb the steep hill back to 5-Mile Road). The work will reroute about 200m of trail and make it easier to hike during spring. They also plan to do some brushing of overgrown forest on the north side.
Cranberry Marsh
While working in the marsh requires the cooperation of the Province and the Nature’s Trust, society members hope to complete some much-needed maintenance on the southeast part of the marsh loop that has been flooded in recent years. They also hope to brush out the main dyke and a stretch along the sewage lagoon to remove overgrown brush and invasive thistles.
“In the summer the thistles just grow in and almost touch in the middle there,” Thoni says.
Westridge Trail
The Westridge Trail has been unmaintained for a number of years, but this summer YORA members plan to bring it back.
Plans are in the works to reroute the trail around a boggy section above the cabin to get up to the pristine alpine lake.
Thoni says they plan to complete the work by the end of this summer. Watch for details on this site!
McKirdy Meadows trail
One of Valemount’s most popular alpine trails, McKirdy Meadows got signage upgrades in the past few years, and will now get a more defined trail from the end of the meadows to the ridge, where currently it’s only ribboned.
“It’s good to keep everyone on the same trail so it doesn’t get braided.”
Camp Creek
Thoni says that YORA will use the summer season to brush out the cross-country ski trails.
Colley Lakes
This newer trail (watch for it to be added to this site!) is currently a “diamond in the rough” that follows a long boulder fields to a pristine alpine valley dotted with crystal clear lakes.
Thoni says work planned for this summer includes better defining the route, including through sections of the boulder field.
