Terrain: Moderately gentle
| Approximate Elevations (in meters) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start: | 630 | End: | |
| Minimum: | 550 | Maximum: | 720 |
| Net Gain: | 170 | Cumulative Gain: | 0 |
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Jordan Ridge
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Park:
Terrain: Moderately gentle
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Jordan River Mainline Trailhead: (80 km from Saanich Hall, 8 km on logging roads, 4wd recommended). Drive west from Victoria to Jordan River. Drive 2.7km from the west side of the Jordan River Bridge (almost directly opposite the China Beach group campsite). Turn right onto a logging road. Proceed up the road, you will notice a road joining from your right approximately 1km in, continue straight a short ways until you come to a gate, go through the gate and take the left fork almost immediately thereafter. Continue on this road, ignoring the side roads for as long as you can drive. There is one gated juntion approximately 6.5km up the road. This gate is usually locked. I have been told there is an access to the Kludahk Trail via this road but you can find another by going left at the gate and continuing up the main road. (again ignore the side roads).
If you are headed to Jordan Ridge, continue up the left road from the 6.5km gate. Just after the 5 mile marker there is a road that drops down to the left, this road leads to Jordan Ridge.
For skiing access simply drive up as far as you can. It is very unlikely that you will be able to drive beyond the summit of the hill just beyond the gate mentioned above. The road dips a little here and often collects a lot of snow. If you can reach the summit it makes an excellent stopping point as the terrain becomes gently rolling for the next 2km or so.
| Cross-country ski | Novice. | Best from mid November thru mid March. |
The right fork goes up a hill and then drops rounding a bend before entering a wooded area. Just before the wooded area is a nice lunch spot. Beyond the wooded area the trail goes down a hill and enters another open area overlooking a deep valley with the Kludahk Ridge as the far backdrop. The trail goes along here before climbing again (we turned around at the spot where is started to climb). Based on 4WD tracks in the snow in late 2010 we suspect the route joins up with the 1st road to the right along the "left fork" option below.
The left fork (from the tall tree) goes up a moderate hill and then levels before going up a couple more hills. It continues on for at least another 4km from the junction. There are a number of side roads which we have yet to fully explore. We have skied a road to the right that heads off just before the main road starts to drop and then climb a large hill. This is a lovely route to ski, the road is wide and passes through pleasant forests before coming out in a logged area. The first junction to the left in the logged area leads to a fantastic viewpoint (it is a steep climb to the viewpoint with a couple of melt streams across it both times we"ve gone up, you probably want to take your skis off for the descent).
If you go left at the 1st junction after leaving the 5 mile overlook the terrain becomes a little more challenging. It is more rolling than the other routes and the hills are steeper. This road proceeds about 2km or so before dead-ending. There is one spur road off the road, we did some minor investigation of it but it appeared not to lead anywhere.
View trail condition reports for this trail.