Know before you go
Advisories
Safety information
The Stein Wardens (Lytton First Nation members) and BC Parks rangers continue to maintain the park and enhance the users’ experiences. Follow their direction and adhere to posted signs.
- Do not underestimate the demands of hiking the full length of the valley. Routes out of the valley include steep ascents and descents. Rugged terrain and deadfalls across the trail can significantly lengthen the amount of travel time required. Allow extra time to complete your trip.
- 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. 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.
- The park is far from medical help. Bring a good first aid kit and exercise caution.
- The park can be extremely dry with high wildfire risk. Take utmost caution if using any cooking appliances. It is best to bring food with you that does not need any cooking or heating.
- Grizzly bears, black bears, and cougars 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. For more information, please read wildlife safety.
- Leave your dog at home. They can harass wildlife and other hikers, bring you face-to-face with an angry bear, or damage areas by digging. 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. If you do bring your dog, keep them under control, discourage digging behaviour anywhere in the park, and clean up after them.
Special notes
The following is prohibited in this park:
- Campfires. Bring a camp stove for cooking.
- Vehicles. Access the park on foot only. Mechanized vehicles, including 4x4s, ATVs, mountain bikes, snowmobiles, helicopters and float-planes are not allowed.
- Horses
- Touching or tampering 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.
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. 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.
Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.
Visit responsibly
Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:
Maps and location
- Park Map [PDF] (June 25, 2018)
- Brochure [PDF] (August 21, 2018)
Getting there
The park lies west of Lytton and approximately 185 km southwest of Kamloops or 290 km northeast of Vancouver, both via Highway 1.
The main trailhead is located on the west side of the Fraser River by Lytton, accessed by crossing the Lytton Ferry. The ferry is usually closed for periods from late May to early July because of high water. Check the Drive BC website before heading out. After disembarking from the ferry, follow the road to the right for 4.8 km to the junction with the Stein Valley Road (marked). Turn left and follow it to the parking lot.
The park boundary follows the watershed boundary for approximately 195 km along a continuous line of summits and ridges.
Alternative access to the main Stein Valley trailhead is available via the Westside Road south from Lillooet, on the west side of the Fraser River. This is a slow two to three hour drive on a rough dirt road. There is also a pedestrian walkway along the CN railway bridge that crosses the Fraser River south of Lytton. The trailhead is roughly 8 km north from the west end of the bridge. Other trailheads for accessing the park are located at Lizzie Lake, Blowdown Pass and Texas Creek.
Road condition enquiries
VSA Highway Maintenance Ltd.
1-888-315-0025 or 1-250-315-0166
Fax: 1-250-315-0169
Camping
Things to do
The Stein Valley offers a wide variety of hiking opportunities. Visit our Stein Valley hiking page for more details. Sections of the trails may be hiking closed due to natural hazards of wildlife, weather, and trail conditions.
The Stein River is not suitable for canoeing due to its inaccessibility. The section of river below the suspension bridge is classified as grade V water and should not be attempted.
Kayaking and rafting in the park: park use permit required.
As of June 27, 2017, the Stein Management Board has decided to close the park to kayakers and rafters unless the interested party/company has a current park use permit. This decision is to allow Lytton First Nation and BC Parks to investigate how the park is being used by this recreational group – and how to minimize negative impacts to all values within the park. This type of activity is subject to a fine under the Park, Conservancy, and Recreation Area Regulations. Stay tuned for possible changes to this decision.
The Stein River is not suitable for canoeing due to its inaccessibility.
There is salmon fishing in the Stein River. Stein Lake has been stocked in the past. The river and lakes are not known for good fishing.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
Pets and domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in beach areas or park buildings. You are responsible for their behaviour and must dispose of their excrement. Backcountry areas are not suitable for dogs or other pets due to the potential for problems with bears and other wildlife.
Hunting is permitted only during lawful game hunting season. Check with Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis for regulations.
Facilities
In the parking area at the trailhead, there are three picnic tables and one pit toilet that is user maintained. There is also a large information shelter depicting the history, landforms and flora and fauna of the park.
Each campground from the trailhead to Stein Camp has a user maintained pit or backcountry toilet. There is one pit toilet at the trailhead in the parking area. Visitors should bring their own toilet paper.
When in the backcountry, please exercise proper backcountry sanitation procedures when no facilities are available. Deposit human waste in cat holes. Cat holes are 15 to 20 cm deep and should be located at least 100 feet from any water source. Thoroughly cover and disguise cat holes when finished. Bury toilet paper as well. Do not burn it.
About this park
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.
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 compared to Douglas fir in the mid-valley. Hemlock, 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, subalpine fir, white bark pine and alpine tundra. Spectacular flower blooms occur in the spring and summer, particularly at higher elevations.
Stein Valley landforms:
The Stein Valley was heavily glaciated and is dominated by glacial landforms. All of the main valleys except the lower canyon have the characteristic U-shape of glacial eroded troughs, and many of the tributaries to the Stein River exhibit “hanging” valleys. The upper reaches of the watershed are dotted with a large number of small mountain lakes (tarns), many of which occupy cirques.
The Stein River has two extensive canyon sections, one at the east end of the valley and one at the west end. The park has a wide range of elevations, from about 220 metres above sea level at the eastern end to 2954 metres at the summit of Skihist Mountain. There are about a dozen other peaks along the boundary that are over 2,438 metres. Some of the key elevations in and around the park are:
- Main (eastern) trail head 220 metres
- Cottonwood Creek mouth 675 metres
- Stein Lake 1,025 metres
- Elton Lake 1,825 metres
- Tundra Lake 1,875 metres
- Lizzie Lake 1,325 metres
- Blowdown Pass 2,175 metres
Preliminary efforts are underway to monitor glaciers within the Stein Valley Heritage Park. Learn about glaciers and glacier research.
The Stein River and its tributaries:
The main Stein River, from Stein Lake to the Fraser River, is about 60 kilometres long and drops about 800 metres over that distance. River levels are highest in June and July, and also change significantly in short periods of time due to heavy rainfalls or high temperatures in the western end of the valley. The river contains several falls, with the two largest being about six to eight metres high.
There are several other waterfalls in the park, including Cottonwood Falls, at 15 metres in height and Elton Falls which drops 60 metres and has a cascade totalling more than 300 metres. Generally speaking, the tributaries on the south side of the river are glacially fed, while those on the north side drain large expanses of meadows.
The park contains larger lakes (Stein, Elton and Tundra), as well as many small lakes. Tundra and Elton are headwater lakes which are only ice-free from July through October. Elton, with its glacier flowing into the west end of the lake and its spectacular cobalt blue colour, is one of the gems of the park.
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.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
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.
Contact
General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
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