Glacier Crest Trail is a 7.9 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Columbia-Shuswap A, British Columbia, Canada that features a river and is rated as difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking and nature trips.
October 11, 2020beautiful view of the glacier waterfalls initially but the day became very windy, rainy then snowy and cloudy to the point that we could barely see 20ft in front of us. the descent was obviously very slippery. no options for water filtration after about halfway up. watch for rock piles as some areas not well demarcated. best to avoid on a wet day!
September 30, 2020Completed this trail on Sept 27. The hike up was very cloudy and foggy, with barely any visibility. Once we reached the top, the clouds started to part, revealing more and more of the amazing, snow-covered landscape. From elevation 2,050 m, there was 5-10 cm of fresh snow covering the scree, which made finding the trail quite challenging. Having downloaded the trail map for offline use was a huge help, the GPS located us with metre-accuracy! This snow-covered, steep scree was definitely hard on the feet, but we managed it well even with our dog. The views from the top, especially of the Illecillewaet glacier were truly spectacular and as we were waiting for the clouds to part we easily spent an hour up there. Definitely climb the top of the crest which is another 100 m or so past the end of trail pole. The steep, rocky trail down is tough on the knees and ankles, hiking poles are highly recommended!
September 28, 2020September 22, 2020Steep trail - mostly switchbacks and high grade - with rewarding glacier & valley views. Highway sounds are a bit off-putting in the switchbacks.
September 17, 2020September 12, 2020Chose to do this trail over the Great Glacier Trail and felt it was worth it! A lot more elevation but the views on the ridge are awesome, as you can see both "sides" of the glacier at once! The first part of the trail is nicely graded and smooth, and offers glimpses of the surrounding mountains as you ascend. The last section opens up to subalpine scrub and becomes more challenging in terms of steepness and finding your feet, although it's still totally achievable with a few breaks! Keep going past the pole at the top for 200m until you reach a large cairn for maximum views!
August 25, 2020I really enjoyed this trail. The views from the summit are absolutely stunning and worth the hike. A significant portion of the trail is through the forest where you don't get great views, however, once you clear the tree line the views open right up. As others have recommended don't stop at the official trail end. It is definitely worth it to hike up to the summit and only takes about an extra 5min to do so. Near the summit it is very rocky and quite steep, some easy scrambling is required. Be careful on the way down as it would be easy to twist an ankle or slip. Also as others have mentioned, there has been sightings of a mama grizzly and two cubs in the area so be prepared and be aware while hiking. I did not spot any and safely hiked solo. Especially in the forest areas, I was sure to make noise regularly.
August 19, 2020August 10, 2020Great hike, would highly recommend. 360 view of the Selkirks and two glaciers. Make sure you don’t just stop at the end of trail post, keep going up until you reach the big cairn to feel the full exposure!
August 7, 2020Really nice trail, we enjoyed it! The view just gets better with every meter elevation. It's worth all the effort :)
August 6, 2020This trail is OPEN! was pleasently surprised with the ease of the elevation on this one. Nothing too steep. Trail is snow free. Nice view up the top. Park Ranger told us a Griz mumma and 2 cubs have been hanging around and seem calm. We didn't bump into them though.
July 13, 2020It is not closed! Spectacular view of mt sir Donald and illecilewaet glacier valley. 3/4 way up the hike became very snowy but we carried on with gaiters on our boots.
September 4, 2019Belle randonnée. La récompense et sur les 200 derniers mètres. Vue splendide de part et d'autre sur les vallees glacières. Belle bavante.
August 30, 2019August 29, 2019Probablement une des plus randonnées que nous avons faites pendant notre séjour au Canada. La fin de la randonnée est très raide mais la vue est vraiment exceptionnelle.
July 18, 201915/7/19 steep in the trees but the views above tree-line are stunning! This hike is worth all the effort. Bring bear and bug spray. Sad to see the glacier has retreated so much in the last 100 years. Views of Mt Sir Donald and surrounding ranges are gorgeous. Must do hike.
July 6, 2019Unreal hike, glaciers are amazing. Last part is very windy and fully exposed, making it all the more amazing.
July 2, 2019
First to ReviewDid this one yesterday 2019-07-02. Still a bit of snow at the top but nothing too hard to get around. Views were gorgeous from about the halfway point where you could see across the front side of the park. When you get to the top a full 360 view of the entire park + glacier made the journey worth it. Glacier has obviously melted rapidly over the years so to get to see this before it becomes a shard of ice is a real experience.
September 18, 2020September 15, 2020September 12, 2020September 5, 2020August 26, 2020
