Slesse Memorial Trail

Slesse Memorial Trail near Chilliwack, BC

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This trail was given a rating of 5 out of 5 stars

-
3hours
moderate
Hiking
Summer
Chilliwack, BC

Tourism Chilliwack

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In November of 1956 at TCA flight from Vancouver to Calgary crashed into Mt. Slesse killing all 62 aboard. In 1995 a plaque was erected to honour those who lost their lives, and the area was declared a commemorative site. The route is out in the open following an old road, and takes you not only to the plaque but also to a breath-taking vista of Mt. Slesse and its neighbours.

Note: The trail does continue along the road to its end, where a rough trail leads you up a ridge to the base of Slesse's rock slopes (another 4 hrs return). The picture above is from our climbing section, which shows a route up Slesse for climbers.

Directions:

Highway 1 Exit 119A (Sardis/Vedder). Go south on Vedder Rd. until you reach the Vedder Bridge. Turn left onto Chilliwack Lake Rd. Set you odometer to "0" at the Vedder Bridge. Turn right at 31km, just past the Riverside Recreation Site, onto the Chilliwack South Forest Service Rd. "0" your odometer again, cross bridge and at 400m turn right. Follow this road (Nesakwatch Creek is on your right) for 5.6km where you'll see a signpost, parking area and clearing, all on your right. Walk through the open area to the footbridge over the creek, and you'll find the trail fairly obvious from this point on. (Maintained by the Valley Outdoor Association).

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By Posted By: cstl604 - Sun Oct 03 13:43:36 EDT 2010 Comment as of October 1st made it to about half a km from trail head probably could of made it the rest of the way but instead parked and walked the rest trail well marked awesome hike

By Posted By: rogerbarnes - Mon Sep 06 20:03:52 EDT 2010 Not Rated Comment Sept 2010. Road not all suitable for regular car at ~2.5 kms off Chwk Lake Rd. Had to turn back.

By Posted By: amykelly - Tue Aug 03 13:58:17 EDT 2010 Not Rated Comment The forest road on the way up has a few patches where a 4X4 are strongly recommended. If you aren't worried about wrecking your car then go for it and take it up but no guarantees that it will make it. The trail head is quite easy to find, thanks to the person who created the Mt Slesse sign. After descending into the mountain and crossing a giant log bridge you will begin your hike upwards. After 10min or so the path levels out and turns into an over grown raspberry/blackberry/prickle bush. I'm pretty sure we were on the right trail because we were following all of the orange markings on the trees but someone needs to go through with a weedwacker and clear the trail. It was so overgrown in parts that you couldn't actually even see the trail ahead of you. We followed the path for 10-15mins and then stopped and turned around. I'm not sure how much longer we had to go until we reached a point where the trail was clear but we weren't willing to find out. We will go back again and attempt it but we will definitely be wearing pants as my legs are all torn up from the overgrown prickle bushes.

By Posted By: cdjk123 - Sun Jul 25 12:37:48 EDT 2010 Comment Our group just hiked this yesterday, and we all found it was very good. It is definately worth it to continue up past the memorial and go up to the base of the peak, which yeilds some beautiful vistas. The incline is fairly gradual, pretty much the whole way. And it is also covered in a lot of thick brush for the majority of trail, so you don't really notice the incline, or the length of the trip just because youre constantly focusing on seeing past the brush and getting good footing! Also, the glacial melt off is an incredible sight to see. Every 20 minutes, give or take, a chuck of glacial snow will break off and fall down the mountainside letting out a VERY loud BOOOOOMM!!!!!! VERY cool!

By Posted By: Josephine Paige - Mon Jul 05 14:34:58 EDT 2010 Comment We tried to do this trail on July 2, 2010. Host at the Riverside Rec Site was very helpful with giving direction and warning that there were rough patches. On his advice we ignored the 'road closed' sign and drove up with our minivan loaded with six people. Forestry Service Road was mostly good but hit a rough patch (around 2.5 km up?) that we couldn't get past without risking damage to the underside of our vehicle. We had an enjoyable walk up the road a ways, before the kids got tired and we headed back to the car. After that one rough patch the road was good and we saw a couple of trucks drive past. I spoke to one fellow who had taken a car up a few weeks before, but it was the last trip before he took it to the junk yard and his plan was to walk down the main road if the car was wrecked on the way up.

Although we didn't make it to the trail or plane crash we all had an exciting adventure and saw some beautiful mountain scenery. We were warned by other hikers that they had sighted bears a few minutes before we arrived.

By Posted By: brancher - Fri Dec 25 22:57:16 EST 2009 Comment This is the exact same trail as 'Mt. Slesse Memorial', although this one seems to have been posted first.

By Posted By: cateinBC - Sun Sep 27 01:25:06 EDT 2009 Not Rated Comment I hiked up to the propcairn today (Sept 26/09) -- found the road to the trailhead a bit dicey for my poor little audi a3 -- some road slides and big holes -- but not impassable, and the trail was lovely. A good climb up, and the cairn is really sobering. Vistas glorious. Took 3.5 hrs return.

By Posted By: rip - Sun Sep 13 22:19:15 EDT 2009 Not Rated Question slessetrail chwk lakeThis tral has changed since I last did it. Is itwell marked. Do you still need to cross the rapid run off creek? Hope to hike this hike on Sat. 18 Sept. Would really appreciate it if some one responded. Thanks so much . RIP.....

By Posted By: K-nut - Thu Aug 20 13:37:07 EDT 2009 Not Rated Upside Great views all the way up and at the top where the prop cairn is. Downside Somebody left a wine bottle which trapped and killed 2 mice on the cairn. Comment For a more detailed review of this hike, see http://www.trailpeak.com/trail-Mt-Slesse-Memorial-near-Chilliwack-BC-6254

By Posted By: hikermamma - Mon Nov 24 12:11:53 EST 2008 Not Rated Upside Beautiful views from all directions on the way up Downside We weren't prepared for 5 inches of snow on the way up Comment The road was decent on the drive in, but we had a truck. We found the trailhead easily using the directions. We had to look to be sure we were on the trail a few times but it was well worn down to be able to follow. I would not like to hike out in the dark though as you could easily get turned around in places. It is a very beautiful spot and a must see if you are a hiker. The plague was iced up and we couldn't read it so we will have to go in better weather and get the whole picture. Awesome!

By Posted By: ChanceWolf - Sun Sep 28 01:52:30 EDT 2008 Upside Once you've been all the way up to the propellor cairn - it'll stick with you forever. Downside Trail very poorly marked in spots (2006). You have to pick your time of year carefully so you're not snowshoeing or otherwise seeing nothing but white. Comment I've been fascinated by this for years, and finally got the opportunity to hike the trail in 2006. The trailhead itself was easy enough to find based on descriptions of it found in various places, but after that you had to keep your eyes open for little bits of faded surveyor's tape in the better spots - and the odd arrangements of stones and twigs pointing the way at ground level for the less-than-better spots.

The hike up to the memorial plaque wasn't too rough (depending on what you're used to), but the plaque itself is situated at the head of the Debris Bowl (where all the bits and pieces of plane wreckage evidently migrated down to from the crash site itself), but the Bowl is well overgrown with scrub and weed etc. in the absence of snow to the point no wreckage is visible there. Some have hiked down into the Debris Bowl and you can find pics here and there on the web of the commonly known bits - but apart from the odd strut and tiny piece of wing - not much seems to remain thereabouts. From what I remember (I didn't take photos), you can see the peak where the plane hit to the left of the Debris Bowl.

The hike from there up to the base of the 'Fang' is a few more hours - two more anyway if not a bit more, according to what I remember. A couple of small signs tell you not to disturb anything you might find etc. as you get close to the base of the 'Fang', and the last few hundred yards up are considerably steeper than anything encountered up to that point.

When you get to the base of the peak where the plane hit, you'll see a rock cairn with one of CF-TFD's propellors stuck vertically in it. On the cairn various mountain climbers and hikers of the past have placed whatever they've found for others to look at - and some of those finds bring it home that 62 people died there. When I was there I saw several bits of womens shoes - a leather flap from a pilot's flight-bag or leather document satchel - some chunks of wiring - and other bits of detritus which once added up to a DC-4M2 Northstar and 62 occupants.

Across from there - directly between the "propcairn" and the base of the peak - is some large engine part. I wanted to hang around and check out both that and whatever may still be near the top of the long slide which would eventually lead back down to the Debris Bowl - but the afternoon was getting on and I didn't fancy making the trip back down in the dark. When you're there - at the propcairn - it's just...quiet. No wind. No birds. Nothing. It's very hard to do justice to.

Since I did the trip I've visited the archives in Chilliwack to have a look at the Board of Inquiry Report others have mentioned - but found that the document is only a synopsis. I got the National Archives in Ottawa to send me the entire 300-page version which asks more questions than it answers. There's more I'd like from the National Archives too - but it would require a visit to Ottawa. There's at least another book in the Slesse crash story (the Betty O'Keefe & Ian MacDonald one being the first) -- if not a movie or CBC miniseries.

By Posted By: actionwhere - Fri Aug 01 02:17:33 EDT 2008 Upside Nice views! Downside We did this trail on July 20th, 2008. From where the new trail merged into the old trail it was very overgrown almost all the way to the memorial plaque. Comment Does someone know how long the trail continues past the memorial plaque?

By Posted By: solohiker75 - Sat Jul 26 12:47:37 EDT 2008 Not Rated Upside As of July 25/08, the road has been graded to the trailhead.

By Posted By: solohiker75 - Sun May 25 00:10:28 EDT 2008 Not Rated Downside Since logging has ceased up Nesakwatch valley, the road is not maintained. There is one slide which may not be passable except by dirt bikes or a Quad.

By Posted By: millhouse0_4 - Mon Sep 03 02:33:16 EDT 2007 Not Rated Upside Road into trailhead recently graded. Easy access to trailhead.
Trail was well marked - thank you VOA or whoever has marked it.
Comment Views are outstanding. This is one of the best hikes I have been on.

By Posted By: solohiker75 - Mon Apr 09 11:34:43 EDT 2007 Not Rated Downside As of April 7,2007 the road in to Nesakwatch Valley is blocked by a series of rock and mudslides which make it impassable to vehicles including trailbikes.

By Posted By: HurtinUnit - Sun Apr 01 12:58:04 EDT 2007 Not Rated Upside QUESTION: Is the wreckage site visible on Google Earth? Downside To all the air crash buffs? Do you know of other sites that may be visible on google earth? UFO's, shipwrecks etc.?

By Posted By: chris_goulet - Tue Dec 13 19:43:36 EST 2005 Not Rated Upside Fascinating for plane crash buffs. Awesome 'fang' mountain. Downside Overgrown sections, poor route marking, deep snow (all beyond plaque) make it harder and more satisfying! Comment
Nov 24/05

In the 80's, I read 'Anvil of the Gods' about plane crashes, and had been fascinated with the 1956 crash on Mount Slesse near Chilliwack. I had actually bought a topo map of the area. Well twenty years later, passing by the area, just had to seek out the crash site on this 8000' mountain. The forestry service road was so washed out that I had to park my car three km from the trailhead. Crossed the Nesakwatch creek on a huge fallen tree, hiked up and found the plaque. Cleared the snow off it for photos. But it is way below the crash site, so I pushed on in increasingly deep snow, beyond where snowshoers had turned back, until I was postholeing three feet deep. What a workout! Following a route marked only by the occasional tiny piece of surveyors' tape was a challenge with my blurry, PRK laser-healing eyes. 'Turn back, it's going to be dark soon', but I ignored myself, and made it to the base of the cliff as the sky became gloomy. Looking at the wall of Mount Slesse, I picture the DC4 with one engine out and it's wings doomed by severe icing, flying through the ominous clouds. The pilots are horrified to glimpse a rock face dead ahead, seconds later the noble craft and 62 people are pulverized in a loud, fiery crash. A long, metallic noise follows pieces and flesh tumbling thousands of feet down the cliff. They are only found five months later, after wildlife has recycled them.

What do I expect to see with all this snow hiding the debris? I'm sitting on a rock eating almonds with chocolate chips when a curved stick planted in the snow nearby catches my attention. I walk over and realize it's a battered and gouged propeller planted as a cairn, that I'm seeing edge-on! Elation cames over me for finding it and several other artifacts in the pit that had melted at the base of the cairn. There are shredded aluminum parts with rivets and electric wires, a cast-aluminum piece, bits of rusty steel, a tattered shoe heel, and shreds of a leather coat. I feel some spirits might still be roaming around, so I coax them to go to the light. Down in complete darkness, following my foot holes in the snow to the faint glow of my LED headlamp, as drizzle adds to the eerie atmosphere. Had much-deserved vermouth wine back at the car-camp, after this fascinating twelve-hour quest.

Chris Goulet
Grande Cache, Alberta

By Posted By: cerrara - Tue Oct 11 16:20:48 EDT 2005 Upside beautiful, rewarding view of towering rock faces at memorial plaque Downside crash site itself is much farther-for those wanting to pay respects up close Comment the new trail that leads to the "safe" river crossing cuts off Nesakwatch Creek FSR at N49 02.733 W121 34.160. there were a few groups hiking this weekend and there was some comfusion as to where to cross the river. the memorial plaque is at N49 02.170 W121 34.740 (3500feet). Plane Crash itself it at 7500 feet...so there is still a ways to go

By Posted By: cerrara - Fri Oct 07 01:58:03 EDT 2005 Not Rated Comment Just got back from an attempt to hike to the slesse plane crash. Bridge on the old trail is defiantly out-which I now have just read. At the 5.6 km parking spot there is a wood post with two tags on it. One tag says "slesse right" the other says "slesse left" Go to the left, up the logging road, for 10 minutes (as was posted). Trail is off to the right. The trail is overgrown and hard to notice-so keep watch! Time ran out for us today, but in the next week or so I hope to GPS the whole route. If I do I'll post the GPS route. I and several others have been trying to find the gps location for the crash, but have had no luckÂ…Oh ya, we say 5 mountain goats! Mountain goats in chilliwack???!!

By Posted By: trailpeak - Mon Sep 19 22:51:04 EDT 2005 Not Rated Comment finally the last bit of information received from Carl Mills on this trafic accident ...

In 1956, the Roughriders suffered a terrible tragedy when players Gordon Sturtridge, Mel Beckett, Ray Syrnyk and Mario Demarco were killed in a plane crash while returning from an all-star game in Vancouver. Flight #810 crashed into Mt. Slesse in the Coastal Mountains just south of Chilliwack, B.C. The four players? uniforms are among the eight Roughrider numbers retired by the club

http://riderville.com/modules.php?name=News&file=throughtheyears&f_subcat=team_history

By Posted By: trailpeak - Mon Sep 19 22:49:59 EDT 2005 Not Rated Comment more comments from the historian, Carl Mills ...

I just read an article about the trail by "alpenglow" - it's a great article but in the sixth para the description of the aircraft that crashed on Slesse is not quite correct - it was a Canadian-built (Canadair - Montreal) North Star (four engine aircraft) not a Twin Star - it was a hybrid of the DC-4 not the DC-3- the DC-3 was twin engine (very noble) aircraft.

I also heard from the CFL today - apparently there were four players on board - they had played in the cfl all-star came which used to come after the Grey Cup.

Thanks to you all for your speedy replies - I will go thru the e-mails and get back to all of you. If you wish to use any of my material - please feel free to do so - I will be continuing my research into this item over the next week or so and will then print a full document and you might want to wait until I'm more sure of the details.

The family of Maj Gower are still around and I expect to get some info from them as well.

The government report which you have copied will also give some hints about the accident - for instance the true impact of weather - and if they got the fire out on the engine. AS I mentioned, we already know that they were about 2,500 feet below their newly assigned altitude (of 10,000 feet) - (they were at 19,000 before the engine fire) and there has to be a reason.

By Posted By: trailpeak - Mon Sep 19 22:34:43 EDT 2005 Not Rated Comment received by a Historian researching this accident for a book about one of the occuopants, a Korean War vet ...

I'm a Canadian aviation historian and am interested in the air crash on Mt. Slesse. My project is about the Korean War and one of the passengers on the flight was a Major Gower of the Canadian Army he had just returned from Korea (to Vancouver) and was flying to his next military posting.

We have some basic information about the flight - we know that they had an engine fire near Hope and had decided to return to Vancouver - there was some weather and the last contact with them was at 7;10 on the evening of 9 Dec 1956. They had been assigned an altitude of 10,000 feet to Vancouver and obviously they were below this level when they hit the mountain. They were also assigned to an airway called "Green 1" - a kind of a highway in the sky. This type of navigation is long gone but part of my research will be to find out if Mt. Slesse is near the "Green 1" route.

I'm looking for a few photos for the project - one of the cairn - one of the mountain peak or peaks - a general view - and a few of the impact area.

Major Gower was a member of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada and his Regiment and the QOR Museum are here in Toronto. He was a veteran of the Second World War as well as Korea.

By Posted By: susied - Tue Jun 21 17:26:34 EDT 2005 Upside A new trail has been created. Disregard earlier postings. Road is now easily 4WD driveable to the new trailhead. At 5.6 K park at the Y junction and head uphill on foot for about 10 minutes. Look for a new trail cut to your right. This drops down to a very substantial log crossing high over the creek. We had a couple of not-very-confident hikers with us who made it across. Trail then winds up through some lovely forest before rejoining the old trail, which is very brushy now.

By Posted By: westons - Sat Mar 05 17:49:54 EST 2005 Upside Easy for anyone to hike. Spectacular memorial site. Downside Too short, but worthwhile for all family members. Comment The first crossing ( without the washed-away bridge ) is rather dangerous.

By Posted By: SteveD - Thu Dec 09 16:39:36 EST 2004 Comment The most recent posting for this trail (susied,June 2004), correctly points out that the road is seriously washed out and that the bridge shortly after the start of the trail has been washed out. To update that info'- The wash-out has now been repaired and there is a log crossing in place just downstream of the old bridge site. However, be warned that the log bridge is not at all substantial and may prove inadequate for anyone not totally confident and quite determined. Good Luck!

By Posted By: susied - Mon Jun 21 11:50:08 EDT 2004 Not Rated Downside WARNING!! Bridge at start of trail is washed out and creek is not fordable.

By Posted By: Omega2000 - Sun Jun 20 12:07:19 EDT 2004 Comment Just an update everyone. I have been on this trial before about a year ago in the rain. We decided on the spur of the moment to go up there yesterday (19 June 2004) to take advantage of the views since it was such a miserable day when we were there last. The logging road was in much worse condition and about 2.5km from the trailhead it deteriorated quite a bit, but I was able to keep going without too many problems in my Jeep. There is now a massive washout about 2.0 km from the trailhead and if you get that far in your vehicle then you will not be able to go any further. Park your vehicle there and walk across the washout and over to the road on the other side. Once you reach the trailhead the bridge that crossed the river just thereafter is gone and the river is now 3 times as wide so unless you have some other way of getting across you'll have to wait until the bridge is rebuilt or the water is low enough to cross (yesterday it was deep and fast and I wouldn't recommend treying to cross it). However we did follow the old logging road for an hour or so and although it wasn't a difficult walk it does offer some nice views. If anyone has any more questions drop me a line at jeepdude50@hotmail.com

By Posted By: Stratoblaster - Sun Dec 07 18:15:26 EST 2003 Not Rated Upside A relatively easy hike with great views. Downside Rough road to the trailhead (typical of many Chilliwack hikes). Comment IMPORTANT NOTE: The bridge that crosses Nesakwatch Creek just after the trailhead has been washed out. Crossing the creek is perilous at almost any time of year. My group was there in early November and the volume of water flowing through the icy rocks prevented us from getting across the creek.

By Posted By: Stratoblaster - Sun Dec 07 18:03:03 EST 2003 Not Rated

By Posted By: TerryM - Sun May 11 02:48:20 EDT 2003 Upside Great view and well maintained by the VOA. Comment If you do not have good clearance, prepare to park up to 3 km before the trailhead. There a few waterbars, one of which has beed filled by a debris flow.

By Posted By: hikingpaul - Thu Dec 05 15:32:45 EST 2002 Upside beautiful view of the slesse bowl from the commermorative plaque. Downside several claw marks at head level on trees made me wonder... Comment i nice short hike if you are in the area. not really worth a day trip on its own.

Slesse Memorial Trail

Slesse Memorial Trail near Chilliwack, BC

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