|
The South Ram River trail begins at the South Ram Staging area, west of Ram River Falls Provincial Park. The trail is approximately 30 km in length, and follows the south Ram River to the upper falls, south of the headwaters at the Ram Glacier. The trail is closed to all OHV vehicles in the summer, and part of the trail is used to access the Ranger Creek random sledding area in the winter. The trail begins with a crossing of the hummingbird creek. The trail quickly cuts up and out of the valley where the Hummingbird Creek flows in to the South Ram River. The first 3 km of the trail follows an old seismic line to the south. Several horse trails split off to the east and provide views of the deep ram valley, and a hidden water fall and large pools on the river. The seismic line eventually cuts down to in to the river valley where the horse trails merge back with the trail. At approx 3km, the falls creek trail splits off to the south west. The falls creek trail is an important detour as it avoids the crossing of the Ram River and merges with the back with the South Ram River trail at Sickman’s camp. As an alternative of using the Falls Creek trail, the South Ram trail follows the river valley and leads to the first crossing of the river. Approximately 100 m downstream from the crossing is the middle Ram River falls.
After crossing the river, the trail follows on the east side and meanders through the valley. Approximately 1.5 km from the first crossing, the trails split to the second crossing of the ram to the south west, and the Ranger Creek trail to the south. After crossing the river a second time, the trail runs through the valley on the west side of the river. Approximately 2 km for the second crossing, the trail cuts up a hill to the west. On top of the hill is Sickman’s camp. Sickman’s camp is approximately 8.5 km from the staging area. From atop the hill, trail is clearly visible to the south and continues up the valley from Sickman’s camp. Several campsites are established along the way as the trail leads to the south on another seismic line. Approx 3 km from Sickman’s camp the South Ram confluence point is passed. The confluence point is a short walk from the trail, and marked with a blazed tree. The next major stop on the trail will be the Ram Viewpoint that was constructed for OHV access from the Canary Creek and Pleasant Valley trails. The ram viewpoint is often occupied in the summer with a base camp for horse outfitters riding in the area. The Ram View point is approximately 16.5 km from the staging area.
The South Ram Trail continues south and leads to the third crossing of the Ram River. Approximately 1 km from the crossing the trail meets up with a seismic line above the ram valley. The seismic line passes by Palmers old campsite on the east at the south west end of a large meadow, and the Ram River patrol cabin on the west. The trail continues to follow the river valley and meets up with the White Rabbit Creek Trail at the historic Headwaters Patrol Cabin. Below the cabin the South Ram Trail continues up the valley, and leads to the Upper Ram River falls. Historically, this was the final destination for OHV users on the trail as it dead ends at the falls with a 30m rock wall. To continue behind the falls, a short scramble is required on slope to the west of the falls. There in no well defined trail, but a few game trails will lead safely to the river valley above the falls. Above the falls the valley widens and leads above tree line. A large alpine grassy meadows line the valley as it leads to the second set of upper falls. This point is a common base camp for the area. Above the waterfalls the trail continues to gain altitude and leads to 3 alpine cabins, and a moraine lake at the base of the Ram Glacier.
|
