Fun on Four Wheels: BC's Whipsaw Trail

Adventure doesn't always need to happen on foot or halfway across the globe. Living in BC we are overwhelmed with activities and adventure. From crystal clear lakes and sweet smelling pine forests to gnarly backcountry trail, we have it all. After buying a truck, the backcountry opened up to us in a way we never could have imagined.

Through backroad adventures we have connected with amazing new people, making some lifelong friends and enjoying our new favourite past time; back country road trips.

We did the Whipsaw trail this summer, a 4x4 trail covering 80+ km of wilderness that crosses from highway to highway near Princeton BC. This trail embodies everything I love about four-wheeling. There are spectacular mountain views, alpine meadows, mud pits, rock walls and numerous routes for different vehicle types.

After passing through Manning Park, we fuelled up, aired down and set off on the road. As boys will be boys, we took our time getting through the trail, repeating rock climbs and mud pits, enjoying the warm sunshine and fun on the trail. At every ‘obstacle’ everyone got out of the truck, stretched, moved around and offered guidance. This gave me a chance to do some exploring, walking off the trail where I found scattered lakes, vibrant colours and mountain views.

We passed Dick Holding’s old cabin (now a destination for hunters, sledders and other outdoor enthusiasts) and drove through beautiful alpine meadow with panoramic views of the local mountains. With no hurry to get anywhere, we made it to Wells Lake for camp just in time for dinner and a few beers to ourselves. This is my favourite part of camping; appetites are satisfied, laughs are shared and stories are told.

After a shockingly chilly night’s sleep and a quick breakfast, we watched the fog roll off the lake, washed up, packed the trucks and set off to finish the last stretch of the trail. We climbed steeply for much of the morning, covering large rock and small mud pits, discovering how far into a valley we had camped the night before.

As we continued to climb and wind our way out of the bush we discovered parts of the old HBC trail towards the Coquihalla highway. The morning went quick as it was chilly to stand outside and before we knew it we had emerged from the trail onto the road.

With happy hearts and a little bit of dust we went our separate ways home.

Written by Emily Masse

Emily is a thisworldexists Adventure Ambassador. See more of her journeys on Instagram: @emilymmasse