Today's Walk - In the Neighbourhood

August 19, 2025

For the past week or two I’ve been sticking close to home, reacquainting myself with some of the hikes around the Castlegar area – part of a network of trails maintained by the volunteer organization Castlegar Parks and Trails. I really appreciate the work this group does in establishing, upgrading and maintaining these wonderful hiking and biking trails around the community.

The photos in this post are from hikes on the Skattebo Reach, McPhee Canyon, Doukhobor Waterline and Ward’s Ferry trails, all situated east of the Kootenay River between Brilliant and South Slocan.

The Skattebo Reach trail (Skattebo Reach refers to the pondage above the Brilliant dam) follows the river, more or less, from the trailhead above the dam to the community of Glade. I hiked as far as McPhee Creek and, from there, climbed on the McPhee Canyon trail to join the Doukhobor Waterline trail, which looped me back to my starting point.

For the most part, the trails pass through shady forests of Douglas fir, cedar and hemlock. I didn’t encounter many birds or wildlife, except for a juvenile evening grosbeak and some spiders whose webs created crazy refracted patterns from the sunlight filtering through the trees.

Along the way, short side trail leads to the Little McPhee Creek waterfall - pretty, but less than spectacular this time of year.

At the mouth of (Big) McPhee Creek there are views up and down the reach.

Looking north along Skattebo Reach to the community of Thrums

The waterline after which the waterline trail is named once carried water for over 8 kilometres from McPhee Creek to the Doukhobor community of Ootischenia. Remnants of the wire that bound this historic wooden stave pipe, built in the 1920s, are visible along many sections of trail.

The Ward’s Ferry trail is named after the ferry that was the only means of crossing the Kootenay River in the late 1800s before any roads or railways were established. The 8 km trail goes from the community of Glade to the Rover Creek Forest Service road, and it apparently follows portions of an old wagon road connected to the ferry crossing.

I parked at the Rover Creek end of the trail and hiked down to the river near the Slocan Pool - a large widening of the Kootenay River. The trail offers some glimpses of the river and the community of Shoreacres as it descends through the forest.

Moist soils near the river here support a mature grove of cedar and hemlock, as well as herbaceous plants like Hooker’s fairy bells.

The Slocan Pool is a historic site that was once the home of a Sinixt village, snt’ekwlitkw, or Much River Food. The cascade above the pool blocked spawning salmon and other fish from continuing upstream, making the site an important fishing area. Gold Island, near the eastern shore of the pool, was known as a burial ground for the Sinixt community.

Gold Island, from the southern shoreline of Slocan Pool

I took a few hours to wander along the shoreline of a peninsula protruding into the pool. During the spring high water, this area becomes an island as well, but this time of year it is accessible by foot.

There is a zone between the high-water mark and the current river level that acts almost like a separate ecosystem, lush with all kinds of interesting flora that are blooming quite late here compared to other areas. I'm speculating that this is because they had a late start - waiting for the high water to recede.

Fringed loosestrife

Field mint

Mountain sneezeweed

Eastern daisy fleabane

The shallow water in some of the small bays provides a rich habitat for insects, aquatic plants, fish and waterfowl.

Autumn Meadowhawk

There were thousands of tiny fish in the shallow waters.

Familiar bluets mating. The male (top) holds the female with claspers at the end of his abdomen, and then deposits sperm into a receptacle at the end of the female's abdomen via an organ in the middle of his body. Their romantic tryst is taking place on the bracts of a self-heal plant.

A male bluet perched on the stalk of a white water-crowfoot flower

A small flock of female Mallard ducks took wing as I approached.

There is an abundance of animal life here. Apart from dragonflies and ducks, I also saw two bald eagles, an osprey, a flock of black-capped chickadees, a merlin hawk, a western terrestrial garter snake, some Canada geese and a great blue heron.

Splish splash, taking a bath.

While I do love getting up into the alpine, it often requires a long drive followed by a long and steep uphill trek, so I'm happy to also explore some of these lower elevation areas closer to home. Many of the local trails are within a half-hour drive for me, and they have much to offer for folk who, like me, love to spend time in the great outdoors.

A last look at the Kootenay River, Shoreacres and Mount Sentinel before my return trudge up the trail.

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