Mara Mountain from the Northeast

I have been hiking up to the top of Mara Mountain for decades. There are a number of routes, but my favourite is from Pruden Pass, the Mara NE route. I park at the end of the Pruden Pass Road near the gate. The park boundary is still 500+ m farther west in spite of what the sign says. I go through the gate and immediately turn left toward the mountain. Of the various ways to get to the top, this way starts at the highest point, but there is no trail for half of the way up. Some sections are steep, but it is grasslands and open forest so any route will do to get up to the meadow benchland with the small lake. A trail starts at the south end of the meadow marked by a large douglas fir. This is an informal trail, but it continues up to the top of the mountain and continues to the south side.

On the lower part of the route we have to wind through sagebrush grasslands before we get to the steep douglas fir forests.

The small lake in the meadow has been drying up in the last few years. There are the remains of an old homestead close to the northwest corner of the pond.

The trail winds up steeply through the forest to the northeast shoulder of the mountain. A single track leads south, drops into the gully, continues to the south side, then climbs up to the southwest summit.

From the viewpoint on the west summit we have wide views – west, east, and south. Kamloops lake lies to the southwest. This is a good spot for lunch.

On this day the route was out and back, a three hour hike. Although there were a number of animal signs, it was a quiet hike with no one else around. A few more images are shared here. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.