Chilliwack Mountain

March 4, 2019

369m

Chilliwack / Fraser Valley, BC

Chilliwack Mountain is a small, but isolated forested hill in the middle of Fraser Valley that boasts absolutely zero mountaineering interest, but as a peak-bagger I had no excuse but to pay some effort to stand on its summit. The required effort is literally nothing because a pave road goes almost to the top, and in fact, most of the “mountain” has been turned into urban areas. The very top of Chilliwack Mtn. is reserved for the natural status thank to the built of Hillkeep Regional Park. From the uppermost parking lot a short trail brings local hikers to a “viewpoint” and from there it’s a very short bushwhack to the summit. The summit is heavily forested.

The morning of this past Monday seemed like the right time. An Arctic high pressure system was still in place for most of British Columbia bringing cold, but clear air. I just ascended Tszil Mtn. and Duffey Peak on the previous day but for some reason I was still keen to get out. Obviously I couldn’t do anything “real”. I had to catch the needed hours of sleep, and I had to be back to White Rock by 3 pm for work. My original plan was Teapot Hill but got changed to the even-lamer Chilliwack Mtn. at the last minute.

Chilliwack Mountain ascent route. GPX DL

All I needed to get this one done was 3 hours round trip from White Rock mostly for the driving. The hike could be easily done in 15 minutes round trip but I did take my time soaking in the (very limited) views there… As for the driving direction I did absolutely no research because I just followed the Waze app’s direction. The Waze app got me pretty much right next to the correct parking lot. I then switched app to Gaia GPS which had Hillkeep Regional Park’s trails already built-in so once getting out of the car I just needed to follow the GPS to the very top. There’s literally nothing worth documenting other than the trail was very slippery due to the snow and ice.

The start of the hike was on a gated road

Looking back at the parking lot and my Taco.

The start of the “viewpoint trail”

As you can see this had been a very cold winter…

Through the trees are the Mission peaks skyline

As much as the trail goes…

As much as the view from that “viewpoint”…

A look towards the Cheam Range peaks

Slesse Mtn. with MacFarlane, Crossover and Parkes to its left

Cheam Peak and Lady Peak

Mt. McGuire with Tomyhoi Peak behind to the right

Just a random zoomed-in shot into the city of Chilliwack

Me on the summit of Chilliwack Mountain

Once getting enough photo for my trip report I went back to the parking lot and slowly drove down the winding Chilliwack Mtn. Road. I explored the surrounding neighbourhood in search for some non-residential spots for better pictures. I found none, so gave up. The rest of the drive back home was uneventful and I got back to White Rock with about 30 minutes of spare time to kill before the afternoon work.