Granby
Provincial Park |
Granby Park is one of the least-known and least-explored wilderness areas in southern British Columbia. This undeveloped park encompasses the headwaters of the Granby River and several adjacent basins, and is one of the last major watersheds in the Boundary region to be protected from logging.
The lower part of the watershed includes pockets of rare old-growth interior rainforests of cedar and hemlock.
In the higher elevations, large alpine and sub-alpine meadows blanket the rolling hills. The park contains protected habitat for mountain goats and a threatened population of grizzly bears. The park also protects the rare speckled dace, a resident fish located in the park’s waters.
The patch of cedar-hemlock rainforest in Granby Park is very unique, as it is the only rainforest in the province not located near the west coast. In fact, it is an incredible 350 km east of B.C.’s coast. In this Interior cedar-hemlock zone, the warm east-flowing winds from the Okanagan meet the towering Monashee Mountains. The result is an abundance of rainfall and a temperate climate, perfect conditions for B.C.’s only interior rainforest.
The park is popular for both hiking and fishing. The higher elevations offer opportunities to go camping, horseback riding, hunting, snowmobiling and guided tours. In the main drainage area of the park, a network of trails connect the Burrell, Goatskin and Arthur creeks and a communications access road blazes a path up to the top of Mount Scaia along the Galloping Creek.
This 40,845 hectare park is very new, having just opened up to the public in 1995. The park is so new that is lacks adequate signage and formal facilities. There are no facilities in the park, not even an outhouse. All camping in the park is wilderness camping, and visitors are expected to practice 'no trace' camping. Visitors need to be self-contained and prepared to wait for help in case of emergency.
Granby Park is located about 65km north of Grand Forks. There are two access points into the park, however neither is officially marked out and both use gravel roads requiring four-wheel drive, or at least two-wheel drive with good clearance. The main access route, popular with day-trippers who want to see the old-growth rainforests and rock canyons located in the southern part of the park, begins at Grand Forks. Visitors should turn north on North Fork Road. There is 20 km of pavement and 65 km of gravel with the road ending 4 km from Granby Park Boundary. The second access point is at the northeast corner of the park via the 23km Mount Scaia Road, which is south off of Highway 6, 10km west of Needles.
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