“But I don’t even know where Green Mountain is?!?” That’s exactly what I said when I first heard about it. I thought I knew the area around Nanaimo fairly well. Mount Benson is right there. Blackjack ridge is right behind it. There’s a bit of a hill that some call Rutherford ridge, or Rutherford flats, or that empty area of bush that’s beside the Quilted Duck. Those were the places to hike around Nanaimo, or so I thought a couple years ago.
As soon as I heard about Green Mountain I wanted to go. It used to be an old ski hill. I thought there would be an abundance of information on this place on the internet but there seems to be very little. We never did see the lodge, or what’s left of it as it was quite foggy and our route didn’t take us close enough. Next time.
As for the rest of the hike….it was fantastic. The drive is quite long. It look us just over an hour to drive from the main manned gates to the ‘parking lot’ where you start to hike from.
It takes you on the right-hand side of first and second lake and then across a bridge and along the left-hand side of fourth lake. From there you turn off the main logging road and uphill towards Green Mountain. Most of the side road is treed but you get a glimpse every now and again of the hills that rise up all around you.
The road up the mountain is quite tame for the most part. You could go a fair ways in a car even. There are a few washouts though that even my Toyota Tacoma had to work a bit at though so I wouldn’t recommend anything less than a 4×4 for the trip. Once you get to the ‘parking lot’ you’ll be able to see the ferns that cover the open hills of Green Mountain.
We hiked for a while up the hill (it’s a steep one, you’re hiking up a ski hill) when it started to rain, and then snow. About 500 metres from the top we stopped and had lunch. We were so close to the top but had to turn around because of time. The gates into the Nanaimo Lakes area closed at 5pm on Sundays. I believe this is the summer schedule so it might change during the winter. To get to the top and back out in a day, I’d recommend either driving like crazy on the pothole-riddled roads or leaving quite early in the morning. I haven’t yet been stuck in the gates there after hours and don’t plan to push my luck.
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[…] Playing in the snow on Green Mountain […]
Do you have any of your photos up on Flickr or anything? I’d love to see them. I’m hoping to get up there again this winter or next summer to see the rest of it and do a bit of exploring. I’m told there’s a really nice sheltered place on the peak that would make an excellent place to camp. I’m hoping to test that out soon.A winter ascent might be a lot of fun as well although a sled might be needed to get in there in a respectable time.
Hey cool pics. I was up there in Nov 08. It was really nice. The trees are still cut like ski runs, and I did find the site of where the cabin was.I found some old ski boundary signs, and stuff. I was at the Nanaimo museum today and they gave me some more information about the ski hill and they had some cool old photo. If you would like to see some of my pics or you are interested in any more info just let me know! Rob
[…] My first trip to Green Mountain went well. We followed the route to the base of the mountain and took the proper turn off to start the long gradual climb. A few times I wasn’t sure if we were on the right track since it was taking so long but we eventually hit the “parking lot”. There is a large round area that everyone parks in before heading off into the hills. We were only a week before hunting season when we were up there this time and were a little nervous because of it. I didn’t get shot so I’m happy. […]
Do you think it’s possible to snowboard down the hill still?Could you e-mail me if you get a chance,I’d really appreciate it.Thanks for the info btw.
Hey Jesse, I sent you an email as well but I totally think you could snowboard Green. It’s setup to be a ski hill so it’s all ready to go. The tough part is getting out there. If you had a sled you could probably have a blast out there!
I’ve gone up Green since this as well. Check it out there https://packandtrail.com/blog/finally-summit-green-mountain/
[…] 5. A popular post from 2008 about Playing in the Snow on Green Mountain […]
[…] My first trip to Green Mountain went well. We followed the route to the base of the mountain and took the proper turn off to start the long gradual climb. A few times I wasn’t sure if we were on the right track since it was taking so long but we eventually hit the “parking lot”. There is a large round area that everyone parks in before heading off into the hills. We were only a week before hunting season when we were up there this time and were a little nervous because of it. I didn’t get shot so I’m happy. […]
Thank, This is9 years later! Iam glad to know that you can still accessGreenMountain where I once studied marmots,way back in the 70-80s. I drove up there ina $400 pinto on its last legs/wheels! They must have beenthe goldolddays. I will have to polish up my GPSskills,IhavenoGPS or skills! May cadge aride sometime.