Lacoma Lake (Peachland)

It took a couple of years to find someone willing to accompany me in the exploration of the Lacoma Lake trail west of Peachland, but this weekend Andy K. was crazy enough to throw common sense to the wind and ride along :-)

The road into the parking area is slightly convoluted - due to a lack of signage (only one Parks / Trepanier Protected Area sign was witnessed along the entire route) a cornucopia of service roads permeating the forest, and a seriously 4x4 only road surface.  We made it through in an all-wheel-drive Subaru; I wouldn't recommend that anyone attempt it in a standard car, with low undercarriage clearance.

From the community of Peachland, along highway 97, there are numerous routes that will place you on the road in.  Here is but one; from highway 97, turn onto Trepanier Bench Rd., drive to Cousins Rd., hang a right.  Cousins Rd. turns into Trepanier Rd. (according to Google Earth).  Follow Trepanier Rd., it'll pass under the Coquihalla Highway in a few km.  From this point, it's approximately 11.5km to the parking-lot at the trailhead.

There you'll find a collapsed wooden kiosk and just beyond it to the left, a small parking area.  The trail passes right of the kiosk and begins a gentle climb up a narrowing two-track.  Rough at first, the route soon mellows, meandering for a distance of four kilometers, where it changes into a singletrack trail, marked with a small wooden "Trail" sign.

The two-track is pleasant, but the real fun begins here; the next 3.8km of singletrack is a thing of beauty, interrupted only by two large deadfall that will require a chainsaw.  We removed sixteen trees during our adventure, Vance and Kim, who followed our route today, were set to remove the half-dozen remaining small deadfall.

We stopped riding 800m shy of the lake and hoofed it in from there, as the trail takes on somewhat of a more hiker-friendly surface beyond this point, with frequent deadfall.  I'd suggest stashing / locking your bikes to a tree, and hiking in the balance of the way if you explore this trail.  Then again, a trio of dedicated souls with shovel and saw could very likely clear and improve this path, turning it into a beauty little route for the balance of the singletrack.

Lacoma Lake, in its low-water, late autumn state is nice, but nothing to write home to mom about.  There is little in the way of actual waterfront to explore, as marsh surrounds the lake, and the creek is low.  A mid-summer adventure in would likely present a proper waterfront and rushing creek trailside.

As with most semi-remote trails, this one is in need of signage and deadfall trail-maintenance.  If you choose to explore this route, I urge you to carry at minimum, a 10" folding hand-saw so that you can take out even one deadfall across the trail.  If everyone does this, this route will be clear year-round, and we can all enjoy it a lot more.

BC Parks is aware of the situation and has intentions to replace the kiosk and re-implement trail signage at intersections along the way.

Below are a few iPhone pics' - we didn't get great light during our visit (rain up top) so the images are only so-so, but they still reflect our journey;


Lacoma Lake - Our Destination




Yurrr' in Redneck Kunn-tree now... (wrong turn on the way in)




The two-track up from the parking lot




...and the SweetSingletrack beyond




There is (very) little in the way of signage enroute




Tom Semenic's resource claim, January 1966




SweetSingletrack from a lookoff point / switchback along the way




Flora (Freckle Pelt Leaf Lichen)




...and Fauna (sorta')  Saw a large owl up top, but didn't get the camera happening in time




Massive floods took out the weir some years back




There exists a rudimentary campsite with nice wooden tent platform at the lakehead




...situated immediately creek-side




SweetSingletrack.ca subscribers and guests will receive this as a chapter with GPS / Google Earth tracks in the November Edition of our monthly newsletter.


Andrew