Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail

Description

This trail, which is located on Blackwater Road past Baldy Hughes, is one of the historical Indian grease trails leading from the Central Interior to the coast. Alexander Mackenzie followed it in 1793. The heritage trail goes from the Fraser River to the Bella Coola River Valley, a distance of 347 km. The section easily walked is only a short piece of the entire route that provides view of the Blackwater River valley.

There are also old Indian trails that go downstream (eastward) from the Recreation Site by the Blackwater River which also give good views of the Blackwater River and Valley.

Note May 2021: There’s a couple of places where the entire width of the road has turned into ‘pudding’ for several hundred metres and there’s one spot where that’s been exacerbated by a fairly large mud hole, again across the entire width of the road. That hole is not too far north from the West trailhead. The Ministry of Forests' Recreation Sites and Trails Branch has been notified.

Trail Info
Distance:
Variable, 3 to 16 km depending on trails taken
Duration:
3 - 6 hours depending on how far one goes
Difficulty:
Moderate
Elevation Gain:
300 m
Trail Type:
Point to Point
Trail Conditions

The trail is usually in good shape with some occasional blowdown.