Mountain Bike

43.3 miles

Distance

6,238 ft

Climb

-5,929 ft

Descent

4,388 ft

High Point

This is The Great Trail (aka Trans Canada Trail) Since some sections of the route such as Waldie Island, Skabetto Reach and Ward's Ferry Trails do not accommodate cycling it should therefore be considered a hiking route, although their are lots of road links throughout.

For cyclists refer to the linked Trails BC pages below that identify cycling alternatives in this region.

This route starts from downtown Castlegar and terminates at the base of the Nelson bridge over the Kootenay River. This is the point where The Great Trail transitions from a land to a water paddling route. Cyclists would have to continue on Highway 3A heading east to the ferry landing at Balfour.

Detailed Description

Castlegar to Nelson (The Great Trail) is a 43 mile moderately popular intermediate route located near Castlegar British Columbia. This hike primary route. This route includes 14 trails. This route climbs 6,238 ft with a max elevation of 4,388 ft then descends -5,929 ft.

Route Supporters

Trails BC (The Trails Society of British Columbia)

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Trails in Route

	Road Link - Castlegar East (The Great Trail)
	Waldie Island (The Great Trail)				1 mile
	Road Link- Brillant Road (The Great Trail)				1 mile
	Brillant Bridge Regional Park
	Skattebo Reach Trail (The Great Trail)				7 miles
	Glade Road Link (The Great Trail)				2 miles
	Ward's Ferry Trail (Trans Canada Trail)				6 miles
	Road Link- Granite Road to Morning Mountain TH (The Great Trail)				3,550 ft
	Bottoms Up				1 mile
	Upper Bottoms				2 miles
	Giveout Creek FSR
	City of Nelson - Road Link - The Great Trail
	Nelson Kootenay Lake Pathway (The Great Trail)				1 mile

Details

Riding area

Castlegar
Primary Activity

Hike
Other Activities
- Trail Running
Difficulty rating

Blue

More Stats for Castlegar to Nelson (The Great Trail) mountain bike route

Avg time

11 hr 21 min
Altitude change

307 ft
Altitude min

1,387 ft
Altitude start

1,453 ft
Altitude end

1,762 ft
Grade

0.1%
Grade max

-50.4%
Grade min

72.1%
Distance climb

18 miles
Distance down

21 miles
Distance flat

5 miles

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Trail Conditions

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Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)

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Only trails in this region hierarchy

Trail Popularity ?

Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.

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ATV/ORV/OHV Filter

ATV - 50 inches
OHV, SxS - 60 inches
Jeep - 72 inches

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Ridelog Year

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x Activity Recordings

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mountain biking recent
mountain biking (>6 month)
hiking (1 year)
moto (1 year)

Activity Recordings

Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.

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Winter Trails

Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.

x Missing Trails

trail	date	description
Bottoms Up	Nov 20, 2023 @ 6:34pm Nov 20, 2023	Variable snow & dirt stretches all the way up to the Oil Can crossing and then solid snow after that. Fatties not mandatory, but it's probably not worth the climb all the way to the top with out one. Snow is a bit loose and wet.
Nelson Kootenay Lake Pathway (The Great Trail)	Oct 24, 2023 @ 7:15am Oct 24, 2023
Upper Bottoms	Oct 1, 2023 @ 2:02am Oct 1, 2023
Skattebo Reach Trail (The Great Trail)	Aug 6, 2023 @ 1:02pm Aug 6, 2023	A long way from being done but somewhat able to be ridden. I turned around (unlike me) as multiple downed trees n hike-a-bike sections once new work ends. Surprisingly this will go from a double black to beginner by the appearance of the work so far. One steep fitness climb but no tech, not even flow features. Castlegar has some of the best bridge builders known so hopefully current bridges will be upgraded. This is def an extremely difficult project so patience probably needed.
Ward's Ferry Trail (Trans Canada Trail)	Jul 29, 2023 @ 5:00pm Jul 29, 2023	Definitely more of a hiking trail than a biking trail but mostly rideable. Rode it from River Creek FSR east bound to Glade, signage is excellent! 4-5 trees down along the route, all east to get around/over/under. Some washouts that require a dismount but also manageable. I rode it on a gravel bike which felt a little sporty, would recommend a mountain bike. You’ll have to dismount and hike-a-bike about 20-30% of the trail but a fun one nonetheless. Great views of Slocan Pools, Shoreacres, and Sentinel Mountain.