Trans Canada Trail in the Nelson Area: Nelson to Gray Creek
Distance

DISTANCE

57km
GPS

GPS DOWNLOADS

Distance

MAP

About the Journey

Arriving from the heights of Mountain Station above town on the Salmo Great Northern trail, the Trans Canada Trail enters Nelson from the south. The trail is well marked through Nelson’s city streets north to the waterfront, where a great trail (finely crushed gravel) winds along the lake towards the “BOB” (Big Orange Bridge).

From here to Balfour, the Trans Canada Trail is a marine trail, catering to kayakers and canoers.

At just over 30 km in length, the route can be paddled in a single (albeit long) day for most kayakers. Some paddlers may wish take advantage of the Kokanee Creek provincial park campsite, or perhaps look into wilderness camping sites along the south shore, within West Arm Provincial Park.

As an alternate route for hikers and cyclists, simply follow the highway to the Balfour ferry dock (longest *free* ferry ride in Canada!).

From Balfour, the ferry whisks trail users to the east side of Kootenay Lake; continuing along the highway, the Trans Canada Trail passes through Crawford Bay to the small village of Gray Creek. This highway route is a favourite among local road cyclists and many touring cyclists. From Gray Creek, the trail route climbs up, up and away into the mountains over Gray Creek Pass.




Staging Areas:

GPS INFORMATION:

  • KML/KMZ files can be opened in Google Earth, and many smartphone apps.
  • GPX files can be opened by most GPS software apps when KMZ cannot. Note, GPX files do not contain custom colours and icons that we use on our maps; all tracks and icons will appear the same colour and styles. We recommend using KMZ instead of GPX if possible.

The files below include data for only this specific area. For all of our Trans Canada Trail data for the entire province (including features, campsites and alternate routes), download our BC.kmz master file (1.2 MB)

Visit our GPS & Navigation page for instructions of how to use your smartphone as a GPS device (even when outside of data coverage) or how to import data to your Garmin unit.


GPS DOWNLOAD (KMZ FILE)
GPS DOWNLOAD (GPX FILE)
DOWNLOAD INFORMATION SHEET

Staging Areas:

Washrooms:

Route Highlights:

Highlights of the paddling route between Nelson and Balfour include…

  • Plentiful camping, launch, rest stops along the way
  • Note the “public access” points we have added to the map for pit stops (see additional layers from the map menu, or download the KMZ version)
  • Fantastic mountain scenery
  • Warm water in the summer months
  • Calm water – but note areas of turbulence where West Arm narrows
  • Possible use of ferry for crossing Kootenay Lake

DOWNLOAD INFORMATION SHEET

Shopping:

Accomodations:

  • Official campground at Kokanee Creek Provincial Park (about 20 km east of Nelson along the water)
  • Wilderness camping is permitted along the south shore in West Arm Provincial Park. There are no amenities and users are expected to “leave no trace”

Transportation: