On a warm mid-May morning I hiked a route in the Lower Rose area, a grassland-benchland of gullies and ridges above Valleyview and below the communities of Rose Hill and West Juniper.     there are several access points from Valleyview and from Rose Hill Road.    Informal trails and tracks are used by hikers, dog-walkers, and mountain bikers.    This is an area I hike 2-3 times each year, most often from an unmarked trailhead just off Rose Hill Road before the trailer park.   There are no signs and there are many trails and tracks in the area.    Some old roads access the power lines too cutting across the trails.    Any route has to take into account a number of deep gullies.    We can cross the top of the gullies at the upper end.     The route  I followed explored some new tracks, but also followed known tracks and trails.    Along the way I enjoyed nature.    There was no one else on the trails on this weekday morning.

The route went up ridges with wide views to the South Thompson River Valley below.

Some of the gullies are more open with sagebrush grasslands and some are narrower with pockets of trees and many shrubs.    Most of the gullies have trails running north-south.

This was a two hour hike with a few stops to enjoy the wildflowers and birds along the way.    A Google Photos album of the wildflower can be found at this link – Lower Rose Nature Hike.

I will be back to hike the area again in the fall.