The Sullivan Range is a 1000m high ridge that runs north-south, parallel to the North Thompson River, 5 km south of McLure.   The trails are old backroads and double tracks accessed from the Orchard Lake Road.   They are part of a trail system adopted by the Horse Council of BC.   The Orchard Lake Trails can be accessed by a lower road, which we used this fall or from higher up on the Orchard Lake Road.   We drove along a muddy track on the lower road and parked at the marked junction then hiked south.

The Sullivan Range parallels the Jamieson Range across the river which had a fresh mantle of snow.

We followed the double track south and picked a left or right turn along the way right to the end.   We should have gone right at one point to get to a better viewpoint for lunch, but we will do that next time.   Official routes have horse-hiker signs along the way.   We passed through some logged area and went off-trail to traverse a fine high meadow on a ridge.   On the loop back we passed a large marsh,  a quiet spot on a late fall day.

The loop we took was over 12 km, but with many loop options, we could have done 13 – 15 km.   This was a first exploration of this area but we liked it a lot so we will schedule a return hike in the future.

Directions:

• Drive north on Highway 5A.
• Turn at the signed road – Orchard Lake Trails
• At 2.0 km, take the right turn and drive along the backroad for 1.4 km.
• Park near the junction (just down the road to the right).
• Hike south from the parking area.
• It would be best to bring a printed map to figure out all the turns.
• Another good loop is the Chalforchie Lake Loop