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Gary and I were looking for a two hour hike in Abbotsford and several people recommended Chadsey Lake Trail on Sumas Mountain–how had I never heard of it before? Sumas Mountain has so many mountain biking trails and also some great hiking ones too! There are many starting points for this hike and we decided to drive as far as we could up to the upper Sumas Mountain Parking Lot so that we just had a 2 km hike each way. There are longer hikes but this one was very well marked and a great distance for us and our timeline.
To get there we took McKee all the way east to Sumas Mountain Road. We turned north and followed it up to Batt Road where we made a right (you will see a sign for Sumas Mountain Interregional Park) and follow that road and signs to the upper parking lot. The last 4.5 km's are on a gravel road and we were able to do it with our minivan no problem.
This is the starting point–such a great view! You basically drive to the top and then descend to the lake (which means the hike back is more tiring).
The hike is about 2 km's each way and the first 15 minutes feel strange as you go from a wide gravel path, to a narrow dirt one, back to a wide gravel one, and finally onto the main dirt trail. The walk to the lake takes about 45 minutes and would be an intermediate level hike–you need to watch for roots and rarely is it flat.
There are signs at every turn and orange markers to follow along the way. Based on various descriptions online, I was worried that we would get lost but I think we took the easiest version of this hike.
Once we got to the lake we only walked around 1/4 of it and decided to just rest and then head back. The water is warm enough for a swim so come prepared if that is in your plans!
{Quick Tip: My headband turns into a super absorbent quick-drying towel–I love versatile and affordable hiking gear! Oh, and I can use it to clean my glasses. Win-win.}
The best way to end a hike? Food! We've never eaten at Famoso Pizza so that was where we went for lunch–food tastes so much better after a great workout.
If you've done this hike before, I'd love to hear where YOU started and what the hike was like from that trail head.
Love,
Louise
How do WE not know about this hike? Putting it on our list! :) Glad it worked out well for your timeline. And great choice on Famoso pizza! SO yummy.
ReplyDeleteHa! I guess there's always more to explore :) Yes, I love my pizza, so glad to finally try it!
DeleteI just did the hike today. I parked at the bottom and walked to 5km. Then the trail to Chadsey Lake starts. I would recommend parking at 5km because it is a very intermediate hike. There are a few areas that resemble mountain climbing (no gear needed but a hiking stick helps.). I didn’t realize any of this and by the time I was coming back up I was seriously regretting parking at the bottom lol. Allow and behold I made it back. A little worse for the wear. I highly recommend eating and putting your feet up if you’ve overdone it! It helped a lot. I enjoyed the fact that the lake was a destination even though when I swam in it my legs were two feet into sludgey stuff at the bottom. I literally screamed and got right back out hahaha. All in all it’s a good hike. Beautiful, quiet and serene. Bring bear spray!
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