“Scout Mountain” (Powell Hill)

October 4, 2026

375m

Powell River, BC

This is one of the taller hills in the immediate vicinity of Powell River that boasts over 200 m prominence. “Scout Mountain” is the unofficial name given by Eagle Walz in The Sunshine Coast Trail but Powell Hill is the actual official name as shown on BC Basemap. However, for some reasons that almost everyone refers it as “Scout Mtn.”, so I’ll go with it even though generally speaking I don’t like unofficial names. In this case, I think the name Powell Hill has become obsolete. In any case the trails go all the way to the top and the summit offers some nice views especially towards south. For that reason this isn’t strictly a “dumpster dive” and should be reserved for a good weather day.

I wasn’t initially planning on adding “Scout Mtn.” into the itinerary but I ended up fishing Beartooth Mtn. much earlier than expected. Tyler, Jason and I got back to Powell River literally before dinner time, so while boating down Powell Lake I started to formulate a plan that perhaps I should aim to tag another peak. This area requires 2 ferries to get to so I should maximize the use of daytime since I was already in the vicinity. I casually texted Amanda on Instagram and asked if she’d be keen on a sunset hike and the reply was positive. Amanda even invited Nora and Ali to join and the plan was meet up at 5:45 pm at one of the trail-heads closer to her home. This was a bit of a rush for me but doable.

“Scout Mountain” from Sutherland Avenue trail-head. GPX DL

This peak is literally in the backyard for the girls so all I needed was to tag along from behind. Much of the route was actually following the established Sunshine Coast Trail and I jokingly mentioned that we might run into Joseph L. since I knew he should roughly be in the area at the moment doing the entire trail in a single push. We ended up bumping into nobody though. Higher up Amanda suggested to take the southern of the two summit trails which should give better views. The primary viewpoint is slightly under the true summit via this approach and we lingered up there all the way till dusk. The experience was needless to say, very memorable.

The first viewpoint with Mt. Arrowsmith in the background.

Another view from that same spot, also towards the Vancouver Island skyline

Following the girls as this was essentially their backyard

This was shaping to become a gorgeous sunset.

As you can see, the upper trail weaves around some bluffs and was quite steep…

Nora and Amanda coming up the open bluffs, with Valentine Hill behind

Amanda soaking in the incredible evening views

Amanda coming up to the viewpoint that actually has a chair

Me at the same viewpoint, slightly under the true summit of “Scout Mountain”

Nora on “Scout Mountain” with Harwood Island behind

Another picture of Nora looking towards Harwood Island

The southern tip of Harwood Island, with Comox Glacier group behind

We decided to close in the loop and by doing so we basically would traverse up and over the true summit. I made sure to step off the path to tag the highest natural ground before starting the descent. The head-lamps were already needed and within half an hour mine started to become the only functional one. This wasn’t a long descent after all, so the cell phones could also be used for illumination. After finishing the hike I drove back to Tyler’s house for the night, and Tyler and I went together back to Vancouver on the following day.