Elephant Hill Provincial Park has natural (ungrazed) grasslands on steep hills above Ashcroft-Cache Creek.   The area is one of the driest in the province and there are no trees and almost no shrub growth.    All approaches are either very steep, or require access through private lands so the hills get very few visitors.   On my third time to the summit of Elephant Hill, I started on the western edge of Ashcroft at the lowest point and climbed steep slopes to the upper ridge.

Once on the ridge, I traversed north to the top of the hill where there are some towers.

Twelve kilometers to the southwest the Cornwall Hills still had some snow on the north slopes.

In spring the meadows are covered in bunchgrass and wildflowers.    This is not as good a hike in the summer heat.

An old double track winds to the top of Elephant Hill.

Video footage covers parts of the hike up and down, including wildflowers along the way:

On the way back down I took a different route, still steep, but a little more winding in its descent.    The hike was 8.2 km

I usually try to hike in the area about this time of year.   The highlight is the bitterroot bloom which occurs in small areas from Cache Creek to Spence’s Bridge.    I have found 4 areas which have these perennials and I try to rotate the destination each year at the end of May.

 2022-05-25/DAS