Several days of exploration in the spring and fall of 2013 left me with a decent overview of the Powers Creek trail network and its collection of wooden technical trail features (TTFs).  This chapter and accompanying map present one of the most comprehensive overviews of the area to date. Click the image above to enlarge it.

Powers Creek hosts a large array of TTFs, many of which are beginning to show their age, with numerous stunts having collapsed or are in the process of doing so.

As you make your way through this advanced-skill trail network please be sure that you visually inspect each TTF that you may be inclined to attempt.  Many of the TTFs feature significant gaps between structural components.  This is by design; they were built by skilled riders, for skilled riders.

Nearly all of the TTFs feature easy-out / ride- arounds - don’t be shy about taking the easy way down, as a good number of the structures onsite could place you in the hospital if you were to crash on them.  This is not an area to flaunt one’s over-developed ego / under-developed skill set.

I’ve met numerous hikers in the area, so know that it’s popular with that outdoor set, but I don’t feel that this trail network is appropriate for equestrians, due to the gnarly terrain and fast-moving down-hill mountain bikers that frequent the area.  I’ve not snow-shoed Powers to date, but imagine that the numerous quad-tracks which wind in and out of the singletrack trail network would make for excellent snow-shoe and XC-ski terrain.

The original builder(s) in this area have become immersed in family life; as such, new construction and TTF maintenance has become sporadic.  If folks wish to enjoy this style of riding in the future, they should embrace carpenter-quality construction and maintenance techniques.  The use of pressure-treated and rot-resistant building materials wouldn’t be a bad idea either.  TTF builders really need to take a look fall-zone clearing and the application process for sanctioning the area as a designated mountain-bike recreational zone.  Short-term pain - long-term gain.

Mountain bikers generally access the Powers Creek trails via shuttle-vehicles.  Here I’ve defined a shuttle-vehicle rally-point for bikers as the intersection of Glenrosa Rd. and Gates Rd., near fire rescue station #34. This rally point, located 2.8km from the intersection of Glenrosa Rd. and the Hwy.97 overpass near Gorman Bros. mill, is easy to locate and (almost) completely downhill roll-able from the finish of the singletrack at the end of Blue Jay Dr.  The rally-point features an obvious pull-off / parking area, and keeps shuttle-vehicles out of the burbs and away from issues with residents.  Hikers can enter at the top of Webber Rd. or Blue Jay Dr. in West Kelowna.

From the rally-point, travel 8.7km up Glenrosa Rd., at which point you pass a large swamp on your right, the pavement bends left to Crystal Mt. Ski Resort and a major forest service road splits to the right.  This position is the Glenrosa Rd. and Jackpine forest service road (FSR) junction.  Note that Google Earth incorrectly defines the Jackpine FSR as a continuation of Glenrosa Rd.

Head up the FSR, notice the small ‘Jackpine Main’ sign in the trees to the left as well as a 0km sign.  It’s from this intersection that numerous trails mark their entry trailhead distances as well as their titles.  At the time of writing, few of the trails in this network feature well-marked trailheads or on-trail markers.  Locating trailheads is thus a process of keenly scrutinizing the roadside as you drive, seeking ribbon-tape.  Measured from the Glenrosa / Jackpine Main intersection we find:

Builders Only 780 meters along Jackpine FSR you’ll find the Builders entrance.  It appears as the first trailhead on your right-hand side and features many wooden stunts and jumps.  As with all TTFs in this area, inspect technical trail features prior to attempting them!  Builders runs east for approximately 500m before turning south and running nearly 4km down Crazy Trail to the end of Blue Jay Dr.  This trail often becomes loose and dusty in the dry Okanagan summers.

Playland - Approx. 1.25 km along the FSR a visually obvious quad-trail peels off to the right.  This provides access to an area known as Playland; one of the original Powers Cr. stunt areas.  Trails pass through to hook up with the main trail network, drawing you south to the Glenrosa sub-division.

Route 66 - A hair over 2km up from the intersection, another vague trailhead appears on your right.  As with nearly all Powers Cr. trails, it features stunts and challenges as it runs approximately 400m east before merging with the main Powers Cr. backbone trails heading south.

Km 2.5 Trail - The trailhead is on the right, marked with a small metal bike cutout and warning sign.  This is the original bike trail that was adapted from the old hiking trail in the early ’90s.  The trail splits in two almost immediately; the left line is called “Spiro”, the right is “Stinky Pinky”.  Pinky is shorter with more flow and an interesting spiral ramp.

Km 3.6, aka; “Big Money” - 3.6 marks the upper reaches of developed [DH trails].  A ski jump stunt (the trail’s alternate namesake) greets entrants to this zone of long skinnies in the woods.  3.6 runs east for 200m, then turns right and follows the edge of the canyon before meeting up with the original Powers Creek trail; the backbone of this network.  The route offers some amazing canyon vistas but also sports several short, punchy ascents.  As with other area trails, 3.6 soon drops precipitously south.

Km 4.8 – The top entry for the original Powers Creek hiking trail, 4.8 represents the current upper reaches of maintained [XC trails] in the Powers Creek riding area.  Its’ vague trailhead appears on the right-hand side of the road just shy of a sharp left-hand corner along Jackpine FSR.  Unlike others in this network, this trail offers stuntless canyon-side cross-country riding - but with great vistas!

All of the trails described above appear on the right-hand side of the gravel Jackpine FSR and eventually merge with quad-tracks which drop to the top of Blue Jay Dr. or the end of nearby Webber Rd.  The Blue Jay and Webber terminus points connect via short singletrack trails south of the overhead power lines.

There is currently one exception to the “all trails drop off the FSR to the right-hand side in the Powers Cr. trail network” rule, and that is “Master of Slag”.

Master of Slag - This rolling singletrack flows along parallel with the Jackpine FSR on the left-hand side, above the road.  It’s laden with stunts, but most are smaller than the balance of what Powers Cr. offers.  Masters’ trailhead is hidden in the forest, some 90m west / above the Jackpine FSR.  In order to access it, one must ride a brief connector on a quad-track.  This connector is located 70m shy of the Route 66 trailhead, on the left-hand-side of the FSR.  A brief, steep climb up a quad trail, followed by a 100m pedal (left) down another intersecting quad trail will place you at the trailhead, which appears on your right.

Lower Trails

All of the trails eventually hook up again near the bottom with old ATV trails or a concrete flume.  These routes drop to place you onto the end of either Blue Jay Dr. or Webber Rd. in the Glenrosa neighborhood.  If you take an inadvertent left turn and find yourself dropping to ride immediately alongside Powers Creek, follow the creek-side singletrack until it ‘T’ junctions into the first major dual-track.  Ascend this two-track until it places you on Coventry Crescent, just 300m from the ‘usual’ pop-out onto Webber Rd.  Head right to hit Webber, then right again onto it.

Singletrack at the end of Webber Rd. allows you to climb a 440m long singletrack in a gully (go left behind the first home, not straight up the more obvious but steep / eroded track) in order to arrive at the end of Blue-Jay Dr., which offers an easy, paved route back to the rally-point.  The route to the rally point is; Blue-Jay to Canary, Canary to Oriole, Oriole to Salmon, Salmon to Gates Rd.

The bottom sections of the Powers Creek trails are popular with dog-walkers and families.  Please be cool with the locals that you meet and we’ll be able to enjoy this area for years without user conflict.

Getting there: from the intersection of Hwy.97 and Glenrosa Rd., drive 11.7km up Glenrosa Rd. to the junction of Glenrosa Rd. and Jackpine FSR.  Note previously described rally-point at Glenrosa Rd. and Gates Rd.

Click the image below to enlarge it .