Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park

The Stein Wardens (Lytton First Nation members) and Park Rangers (with BC Parks) will be continuing to maintain the park and enhance the users’ experiences. Please obey any direction provided by them and adhere to the official signage throughout the park.

Stay Safe

• Do not underestimate the demands of hiking the full length of the valley. Routes out of the valley include steep ascents and descents and rugged terrain.
• Weather changes quickly here. You may experience sun, rain and snow all on the same day. Be prepared.
• Sudden storms can cause white-out conditions and necessitate travel by compass, particularly at higher elevations. Solid route-finding skills are a necessity.
• Rugged terrain and deadfalls across the trail can significantly lengthen the amount of travel time required. Allow extra time to complete your trip.
• Sections of some trails may be wet, steep or difficult to see. Bring appropriate footwear, a good map and compass and watch carefully for trail markers.
• In most locations of the park you will be several days from any form of help. Bring a good first aid kit and exercise caution.

Special Notes

• Vehicles are not permitted in the park – access is only via hiking; no horses or mechanized access (4x4s, ATVs, mountain bikes, snowmobiles, helicopters, float-planes) are allowed.
• Dogs should not be brought into the Stein. They can harass wildlife (and other hikers) and bring you face-to-face with an angry bear.
• Grizzly bears and black bears roam throughout the park but are not often seen. Avoid encounters by making noise as you hike, and keeping your food and garbage in a food cache or hoisted up a tree.
• Sections of the trails may be closed due to natural hazards of wildlife, weather, and trail conditions. Visit our Stein Valley hiking page for more details.

General Notices

• The Lytton Ferry provides access to the main Stein trailhead. For current information about the Lytton Ferry please check the Drive BC website (click on Inland Ferry, click on or scroll down to Lytton Ferry, then click on Current Conditions and Events). The ferry is usually closed for significant periods from late May to early July because of high water.
• As per much of the province, the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park is extremely dry. Please take utmost caution if using any cooking appliances – suggestions would be to bring food with you that does not need any cooking/heating. 
  Be responsible for your own actions.
• Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park is an area of cultural significance. All values need to be conserved in their natural state as much as possible. It is suggested that visitors do not bring dogs in to the park, primarily because digging in to the soil etc. is a natural behaviour for most dogs. If visitors insist on bringing dogs in to the park, please keep them under control and discourage digging behaviour anywhere in the park (including the parking area). As with all protected areas, please clean up after your dog.
• Park Use Permit Applicants: The Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park is co-managed via a Stein Management Board between BC Parks and the Lytton First Nation (see their website at http://www.lyttonfirstnations.ca/). In order for a Park Use Permit application to be considered by BC Parks, the application must be reviewed and agreed upon by the Lytton First Nation prior to submission. If an application is received by BC Parks proof of discussions with the Lytton First Nation will be required as part of the application process.
• Learn about glaciers and glacier research. Preliminary efforts are underway to monitor glaciers within the Stein Valley Heritage Park.
• School Group Information
• No open fires are allowed year-round in the park at this time.  Please ensure you bring along appropriate equipment for cooking any meals.
• Do not touch or tamper with any pictographs, petroglyphs, or culturally modified trees. 
  Contact between these artifacts and your fingers transfers oils and acids which damage them. In some cases these pictographs have existed for several thousand years. Please, join us in protecting them for future generations. It is an offence under the Park Act to damage or destroy any park resource, including cultural artifacts. 

If you have visited Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park, we would appreciate if you could please complete an on-line comment form. This will allow park managers to obtain valuable information from those who have experienced the area.

• History: The park was established on November 22, 1995, following a 25 year debate over development versus protection. The name comes from the Nlaka’pamux word “Stagyn,” which means “hidden place,” referring to the fact that the valley and the extent of the watershed is not very noticeable from the Stein River’s mouth on the Fraser River. The valley has been extremely important to the Nlaka’pamux people for thousands of years, both spiritually and for sustenance. Since the establishment of the park the Stein is managed via the Stein Valley Co-Operative Management Agreement between the Lytton First Nation and the Province of BC – on the Stein Management Board. The function of the Management Board is to oversee and provide management direction for all initiatives and undertakings related to the planning, operation and management of the Park. This arrangement also provides the park with two seasonal full-time Wardens who assist both the users of the park as well as maintaining values within the park particularly in the lower Stein. Please ensure all your activities within the park are respectful and you practice a “leave no trace” philosophy.
• Conservation: The Stein Valley straddles the transition from the dry interior to the wetter Coastal Mountains. This, combined with the large elevational gradient, has resulted in very diverse vegetation communities within the park. Dry ponderosa pine forests characterize the lower valley, while Douglas fir is predominant in the mid-valley and hemlock, cedar, spruce and fir become predominant in the western end of the valley. Patches of cedar exist throughout the valley, even at the eastern end in moist, cool locations along creeks such as Stryen and Teaspoon. Floodplain forests along the river are dominated by black cottonwood mixed with aspen and birch. Higher elevations are noted for stands of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir, and above those are white bark pine and alpine tundra. Spectacular flower blooms occur in the spring and summer, particularly at higher elevations.
• Wildlife: Due to its size and relative lack of disturbance, the park contains populations of many species of wildlife that indicate its relative health as wilderness. It is thought to contain over 50 species of mammals, including mountain goat, cougar, wolverine, black bear and grizzly bear. Bird species include golden eagles, sharp shinned hawks, barred owls, pigmy owls, white-tailed ptarmigan, pileated woodpeckers and rufous hummingbirds, as well as several species of chickadees, warblers and nuthatches. The Stein River contains dolly varden char, rainbow trout and Rocky Mountain whitefish, as well as steelhead trout, coho, pink and chinook salmon that return to the river at certain times of the year to spawn.

BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.