Trail Name: Tranquille River
Distance: 4.2 km
Time: 1.25 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Cell Service: Yes
Trail: Hard packed gravel, double track.
Highlight: A nice easy trail that is stunning in the fall!
To get there: Head towards the Kamloops airport along Tranquille Dr. Continue past the airport and past the golf course. When the road forks, keep to the right and go over the train tracks. Reset your trip odometer to zero here to make finding the turn off out the trail head easy. Exactly 1.2 km from the train crossing, you’ll see a turn off on your right. Follow this a short distance until you come to a small parking area. Or get directions from Google here.
There’s an orange gate marking the trailhead. It’s usually closed but hikers can get around this gate on the left. This is a linear track. During many parts of the year, you can expect to come across large puddles and portions of the trails slightly flooded due to beaver activity in the area. Make sure you are wearing appropriate footwear and be prepared to come across these soggy sections. About 1.2 km in you’ll come across Pine Park, a fenced area with a covered picnic area. This park is maintained by the Kamloops School District and each spring groups of children come here to release salmon fry into the river. If you continue another 1 km down the path, you’ll come to the dam that is used to control the flow of water in the river.
This is a frequently used trail by locals of all ages. It is a common trail for dog walkers too. This is also a popular river for gold panners. If you have a bucket and a shovel, you might want to give it a try. Expect to see lots of birds, varied landscapes and if you’re lucky (or unlucky) some gopher snakes too. These are harmless, non-venomous snakes, yet often get up to 5ft in length. The fall is a great time to check out this trail as the cottonwood trees turn golden. It’s a photographers’ paradise.
Nigel William
3 Nov 2017Hi, HK! Yet another great trail to try! Photos really look beautiful and I hope it will motivate more people to go end enjoy it themselves. I was wondering, in what time of year is this trail most crowded?
Hike Kamloops
3 Nov 2017Thanks so much for the lovely comment! It is our hope too that our posts encourage people to get out and explore! As for busiest time of year – our guess would be summer time, especially weekends and evenings!
Mark Forbes
17 Aug 2019This seems to be and is listed many places as a wheelchair accessible hike. The issue is you cannot get past the gate with a wheelchair.
It would be nice to have access to another hike as there are so few available options.
Hike Kamloops
25 Aug 2019This is a great point that we hadn’t considered. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I’ll update the pos.
Donald MacArthur
29 Mar 2020Just prior to the orange gate there are a bunch of concrete foundations along the left as you drive in. Any idea what used to sit upon them?
Jabba
14 Jul 2020The old pig barns for the farm at the Tranquille Sanitarium.