Canada Coast Mountains Wilderness Traverse

Overview

Backpack a 16-day traverse through the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia — the wild country between the Duffey Lake road and the Stein Valley, where turquoise glacier-fed lakes sit under 2,700 m peaks and you can walk for a week without seeing another party. The route links the Joffre Lakes cirques beneath the Matier Glacier with the high alpine of the Cayoosh Range, then drops into the Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux Heritage Park — 107,000 hectares of protected watershed holding old-growth cedar groves and Indigenous pictograph sites — and follows the Stein River the full length of its canyon towards Lytton. This is expedition-grade travel rather than trail hiking: beyond the Joffre day-use area the paths thin to routes, deadfall and washouts are constant, and daily route-finding with map, compass and GPS is the reality. Grizzlies are resident — bear spray, canisters and clean camps are non-negotiable — and resupply is impossible once committed. Go mid-July to mid-September, between snowmelt and the first autumn storms. Costs are low (around £800 beyond gear and flights), but the logistics — a car drop on Highway 99, a satellite communicator, 16 days of food — are not optional.

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Prefilled for 1 July 2027 — the next best-season window. Search on partner sites — opens in a new tab.