Trail Name: Silvertip Falls
Distance: 1.62 kms
Time: 51 mins
Difficulty: Medium
Cell Service: No
Trail Conditions: The trail is very narrow, quite soggy or muddy, and has slippery wet roots all over the place.
Highlights: A gorgeous cascading waterfall.
**This trail is not recommended for campers/trailers/motorhomes. The road up is very narrow, and if you enter the Rec Site, you might not make it out!**
To get there: From Kamloops, take Hwy 5 North towards Clearwater. Continue straight along the highway for 120km. Once you reach the roundabout in Clearwater, take the third exit towards Clearwater Valley Rd. / Wells Grey Provincial Park. Follow this road for about 11km. Keep your eyes out for the Trophy Mountain Meadows signs, as the turn off is the same. Turn right onto Spahats Creek FSR. Continue up this dirt road for another 4.2kms. You will reach a fork with the left heading up into the Trophy Mountain meadows, but you’ll want to take the right for Silvertip Falls. Continue down this road for another 2.5kms. As you approach the bridge, keep an eye out for an overgrown road to your left right before the bridge. Depending on your vehicle, and the popularity of this cramped Rec Site, it might be best to park on the side of the road here. See it on Google Maps here.
Park on the side of the road near the bridge, and follow the overgrown road into the Rec Site. You should see the Rec Sites and Trails BC sign for Silvertip Falls tucked into the bushes as you walk in. Continue following the main road all the way to the very end. You will know you’re at the trailhead when you reach the second site with the outhouse way up on the hill to your left. The trailhead is straight in front of you. Follow the trail though the forest until you reach the falls!
This trail is full of criss crossing roots and is often very moist and muddy so make sure you are wearing the appropriate footwear! It is also significantly cooler in this tight valley, even in the summer, than the rest of the park. So be sure to bring layers. The bugs are also horrendous up here in the summer, so keep that in mind and think about bringing some bug repellant. Should you be up there at a time when the bugs aren’t too bad, it is a great place to have lunch as there are two sites with picnic tables and two outhouses!
Nigel William
21 Oct 2017Hi, Hike Kamloops! This looks like an amazing trail to go on. Article has some really useful tips and directions are very easy to follow. I was wondering, what do you think is the best time of the year to go on a hike like this?
Hike Kamloops
21 Oct 2017Depends what you’re looking for I guess! In the spring, there is tons of water in the falls, but the trail is also very wet and you need to make sure you’re wearing appropriate clothing! Fall is nice because it is not as damp, but less water on the falls! I would try to avoid mid-summer because the bugs are usually horrendous up there that time of year. My preference is fall 🙂
Klaus
9 Feb 2018For the adventuresome and sure footed hikers, you can continue all the way to the top of the falls. This will require scrambling and hanging onto vegetation on the way up and down. The trail becomes a route along the left side of the falls as you are hiking up. View from up top is great. Not for kids or dogs due to steepness and risk for slips and falls. Not advised in wet conditions.
Gerald
29 Sep 2022Went up when trail was dry, so wasn’t a problem at all, but I can see how if it was wet, it would be an issue. Just couple spots were a bit tricky, but over-all a nice tight trail through the forest. Finding trail-head wasn’t easy, as there was no sign at trail-head. Figured out the trail-head is at the back of the very last campsite of SilverTip Falls Rec Site – kinda odd, but no one was camping mid-week, so we parked at edge of the campsite. About 15 min hike to the falls, which was another cool/unique waterfall to see.