This trailhead is at the northeast end of South Slocan Village Road at Highway 3A, 1.6 km. north east of the Highway 6 junction.
From this point one may head north on the 5 km.
South Slocan > Crescent Valley section of the trail. Parking is available at the trailhead and there are outhouses stationed strategically along the trail, usually at each trailhead.
Each section trailhead has signage relating a bit of the
history of the rail trail and the local area.
In the winter this rail trail becomes a cross country ski and snowshoe trail, with biweekly
Grooming taking place on the trail.
Winding gently through one of the most beautiful river valleys in British Columbia, the Slocan Valley Rail Trail offers easy access to 50 km of breath taking scenery. Following the contours of the Slocan River, the trail makes its way from Slocan Lake in the North, towards the Kootenay River in the South. From the beaches that line its path, to pristine wildlife sanctuaries, world-class fishing, white water rafting, and some of the most quaint cafe's in BC, the trail is extensively used by both locals and people from all over the world. The trail brings your close to both mixed forests, meadows, wetlands, river shoreline and rocky escarpments, and all the amenities our valley has to offer.
From the Slocan Valley Rail Trail
• South Slocan was called Slocan Crossing in the 19th century.
• This trail follows the route taken by many early prospectors.
• The two key regional railroads joined just meters to our east.
A Century of Hydro Power Heritage
In 1898 the longest and highest capacity power line then existing in the world carried power from the Kootenay River below us to the Rossland mines. Hydro project construction and operation has been a major industry around South Slocan ever since. Today the 8 dams on this stretch of the Kootenay River have capacity in excess of 1000 megawatts of clean green hydro power. Both the pioneer transmission line construction to Rossland and the South Slocan dam and generation facility are pictured below.