In December I hiked several routes in the Batchelor Hills. Before there were any bike trails in the Batchelor Hills, there were some long-established double tracks and some foot-game-cattle single tracks on the west side of Lac du Bois Road. We had loop routes that we hiked and we can continue to use some of these tracks and trails, but some of them have become grown in.
The new single track bike trails are established now. We can hike these, but single track trails may have bikers coming down hills with little time or space to get out of the way. According to the Share the Trails principles (see the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC), horse riders have the right of way over bikes and hikers and hikers have the right of way over cyclists, but the reality is that not everyone recognizes or follows those principles so it can be challenging to hike the Batchelor Hills trails in riding season . On the other hand, we can hike the trails in the off-season, on snow, or on frozen ground.
One route we have hiked for close to half a century is one I have called the Barren Hills Loop. Much of the route is now called The Bighorn Loop and the return route we have called Batchelor Pass has a new name too. In the off-season this is still the Barren Hills Loop for a few old timers.
This is a 7 km route that winds up through the hills. We don’t hike the western bike trail loop section behind the highest hill in the snow and ice. We follow a more open track before rejoining the single track. On a grey day, the hike was a bit cold but the trail conditions were good for winter hiking.
On a different day we hiked bike trails (Tower Classic and Naked Pistol) through the middle of Batchelor Hill, then returned on a single track between Batchelor Lake (now mostly dry).
These single tracks are newer, although there has been as an older track between the two hills for quite a long time.
The return trail (Shady Glen) comes back to the trailhead for a a pleasant one hour hike.
On yet another day I hiked from the first trailhead on the west side through the lower Batchelor Hills over to Brock Beacon Hill. The cycling single track trail is called Lazy Boy, then there are old double tracks to follow around and up the hill.
These lower trails are south-facing and are often the first to clear of snow.
The Beacon Hill route is an out-and-back 5.4 km scenic route.
We hike a number of routes in the Batchelor Hills in the off-season before the snow and ice builds up (January and February), then we return in early spring after the snow and mud, mostly in non-prime times, moving on to other areas by April.
