McBride and the surrounding area boasts groomed and track set nordic ski trails, as well as opportunities for “off-piste” cross-country skiing.
The Yellowhead Ski Club, in cooperation with Rec Sites and Trails BC maintains, grooms and track sets 17 km of cross country ski trails at Belle Mountain. These trails have a remote, wilderness feel to them and skiers will often come across tracks from moose, lynx, hares and weasels. Trails range from easy to moderate and feature a warming hut at the trail head and a day use/overnight cabin deeper in the trail system.
The Pine Lake Cabin must be booked for overnight stays by contacting yellowheadskiclub@hotmail.com. Trails are groomed by volunteers, and the club relies on membership fees to maintain the trails and the cabin. Trail and road conditions as well as membership forms are available on the club’s Facebook page at Yellow Head Ski Club.
The Belle Mountain Ski Trails are located at 4.5km up the Bell Mountain Forest Service Road, accessed from Highway 16, 8.5km east of McBride. The trailhead parking area is shared with snowmobilers accessing the Belle Mountain Snowmobiling area, higher up the mountain. Watch for trucks and trailers on the way up and down the forest service road.
Trail Safety & Etiquette:
- Never ski alone.
- Wear appropriate clothing and take food & water.
- No dogs on trails when snow is soft, please, and no fat bikes on trails!
- Snowshoers, please stay off the groomed area and stick to the sides of trails.
- Use caution on hills, and fill in your sitzmarks.
- Ski on the right-hand track.
- Yield to skiers coming downhill.
- Yield to faster skiers passing.
When the conditions are right, locals can be seen skiing on the Fraser River sandbar, on Horseshoe Lake in McBride, at the McBride Mountain Trails, and on the numerous Forest Service Roads surrounding the community. Check in at the McBride Visitor Centre in McBride’s Historic Railway Station for more information.
This local volunteer run, non-profit organization grooms and track sets 17 km of cross-country ski trails at the Belle Mountain Recreation Area, only a few minutes east of McBride.
The club also maintains a warming hut at the trail head and a day use/overnight cabin on the trail network. The club collects membership fees from skiers to cover the cost of trail and cabin maintenance and requests that skiers reserve the Pine Lake Cabin for overnight use by contacting the club at yellowheadskiclub@hotmail.com
The club will host family-friend ski events from time-to-time throughout the ski season.
Information about trail and road conditions, work-bees and events and to find downloadable membership forms, check out Yellowhead Ski Club Facebook
Yellowhead Ski Club is a member of Cross Country BC
