Highline to Poison Mountain in BC

GPS Coordinates are N50 52.2949 W122 10.31. Link on Google Maps

The plan was to start from Moha, about 35km north-west from Lillooet and drive to the Big Bar Reaction Ferry that crosses the Fraser River about 100km north of Lillooet. We never made it to the ferry that day. However, we made it to the ferry 3 years later when we took the official road. Read about it in our 2019 trip to Whistler.
We rented a small studio in Whistler. To get to Moha, we had two options, drive via Highline or Hurley. Both roads were highly recommended for their scenic views. Two days before our Moha trip, we drove both, the Highline and Hurley. An interesting excursion. These are mountain gravel roads and the condition can change within minutes. We had heavy rain and we passed a single-tree-forest-fire caused by lightning. The fire got drenched by the downpour a few hours later.
We knew that there is a faster way to get to the Big Bar Reaction Ferry, but that wouldn't be fun.

Highline Road
A spectacular road that follows Anderson Lake. From Pemberton, head to Mount Currie, Birken and D'Arcy. The road gains some hight and follows Anderson Lake to Seton Portage. Then touches Seton Lake and crosses the mountains to Carpenter Lake. The road ends at the Carpenter Lake Rd aka Lillooet Pioneer Rd 40. This is the road to get to Moha.
The road is not paved but well maintained.

Click any of the images with a white frame to view a larger, more detailed picture

The view is amazing. There are a few places to pull out and relax.

We drove parts of it in heavy rain and lightning. The rain left its marks.
The water flushes debris down the mountain side. Some rocks are big enough to cause damage or worse. There was not really a safe place along the way. The picture was taken at the west end of Anderson Lake, shortly before Seton Portage.

Hurley
The other road starts in Permberton and follows the Lillooet River to Pemberton Meadows, then crosses the mountains to Gold Bridge.

The Hurley is dusty.

The elevation gain is about 1,000 meters with several switchbacks.

Not all the cars made it safely. There was a note on the car that all the passengers were ok.

Always keep an eye out for wildlife

Carpenter Lake and Bridge River
Carpenter Lake

At the East end of the Carpenter Lake is the Terzaghi Dam and a tunnel. The water from the dam flows into the Bridge River.

This is the Bridge River. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. You have to stand there to really appreciate the beauty of the Bridge River valley. Click the image to get a better impression.

The scenic Bridge River captured all our attention. Obviously, we missed the exit to Moha the first time. We figured that out when we drove into Lillooet.

Poison Mountain
For the Off Road Enthusiasts. The road requires a 4 wheel drive vehicle with good ground clearance. Some parts are washed out or washed away. Bring enough gasoline and don't travel alone. It is a long and slow trail.

Second time around, we found the exit. We took the Yalakom Road to Moha and just kept going. The road is all gravel and mostly in good shape.
We started our trip from Moha around 2 pm.
The first 30 minutes was nothing out of the ordinary. We passed a few cows, but not many signs of civilization. Once we passed the sign to the Elizabeth Mine, the road conditions started to deteriorate.

The Elizabeth Mine was first staked in 1934. When we passed the road to the mine in 2016, the sign to the mine showed Sona Resources Corp. We didn't explore the mine, the sign also said "NO ENTRY / PRIVATE PROPERTY".

The water bars started after we had to make a decision, left or right. We called them 'speed bumps', most of them were about 1 meter wide and 30 cm deep and about every 150 meters. Unless you slow down to a crawl, you loose an axle.

Our excursion in Google Maps.

After loading the GPS file from the Garmin Car GPS into Google Maps, we found out that we circled around Poison Mountain. We started our journey with no more than some verbal instructions. We all know the ones, where you have to "turn left after the bridge beside the dead tree".

It was impossible not to notice the huge rock slide. The old road was somewhere under the gravel. The new road was likely created by several cars driving over the debris.

The following pictures was taken just shortly before 8 in the evening. This was the time when we turned around.

Anyway, this is short clip from Moha to Moha. Yes, we turned around. Gas was low and it was getting dark.
YouTube clip to Poison mountain

We spent almost 5 hours on our Moha to Moha trip. We didn't pass a single vehicle and we didn't see another vehicle on this 123 km trip. Average speed was about 25km/h and the minimum elevation was 550 Meter, the maximum was 1950 Meter. In short, a nice escape from the asphalt roads.