This trail is about a 1-hour drive from Prince George, BC. In this adventure, I hike all of the ridges around Viking Ridge near Prince George, BC. This classic hike has plenty of locations for water and offers multiple options to meet your goals. You can hike the first 3 km to the Caribou meadows where views of Viking Ridge can be enjoyed. A short bushwhack from the 3 km sign toward the east brings you to the rock bluffs with a great view north and east of the mountains and rock valley below. There are small caves in the area but caution is required as the shifting rocks may be dangerous to explore some of these (see the end of this video for details about the bluffs etc: https://youtu.be/mx06mSQPlVo?t=165). Another option is to continue past Caribou meadows up to the Lake at the bottom of the summit (about 5 km from the trailhead) where lovely views and great camping are possible. For more adventurous hikers you can hike to the Viking Ridge summit (which has a rock cairn) and beyond to the other summits and ridgelines in the area. Another option for this hike is to turn westward at Caribou meadows to the ‘point of no return’ (see here: https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/viking-ridge-point-of-no-return-hike/)which offers a unique climb through rocks up to 360-degree alpine views of the area including views of Sugarbowl Mountain. Yet another option is to do the crossover (requires 2 vehicles or dropping off a bike at one trailhead to bike back to the other) where you start at Viking Ridge (or Sugarbowl Mt) trailhead and hike across to the other (see here: https://hiking.princegeorge.tech/viking-ridge-to-sugarbowl-mountain-crossover-hike-northern-bc/)
I did get a cell signal but only near the Viking Ridge or Point of no return summits (not the lake or lower).
Directions to trailhead: here
GaiGPS Track: here
Difficulty: Strenuous
Distance: 15.4 km
Ascent: 1175 meters
Max Elevation: 1892 meters
Moving Time: 4 hours 44 minutes
Total Hike time: 4 hours 46 minutes
Directions to the trailhead parking area (trail on the opposite side of the highway from parking): here
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