I haven’t done a lot of hiking in Abbotsford or Mission, but my friend Simmer just moved to Abbotsford and I was excited to explore the Chadsey Lake trail this Fall. The trailhead is located ~20 minutes outside of Abbotsford on Sumas Mountain Road. It’s a 10km trail with 550m of elevation gain and it took us 4 hours with a break at the lake for lunch and a swim.

The entire hike is in the forest, with a maximum elevation of 650m, so it’s a good shoulder season hike, or even a summer hike if you’re looking for shade and a nice swim. I went the first weekend in October and I thought it was a nice option for Fall because lots of the trees on the lower part of the trail change colour and it wasn’t so late in the season that I couldn’t swim. It was a gorgeous day and while the water was cold, it’s not too bad since it’s had the entire summer to heat up.

What surprised me most about this trail was how empty it was. I don’t think this is an obscure hike, but we barely passed anyone on the trail all morning. There are a lot of different trails around Sumas Mountain, so maybe people are accessing the lake from other trails. In any case, the trail was in decent condition and we followed it up from the road until we reached an old logging road. You turn right onto the road, but you quickly leave it behind to rejoin the Centennial Trail on the left, so watch closely for the trail or you could easily miss it.

From there, you hike the steepest part of the trail and the trees thin, so it’s a bit hotter in this section. Eventually you go back into the forest and the trail levels out as you hike around the backside of the mountain. This was my favourite part of the trail, there’s a few peak-a-boo views and I liked hiking along the side of the mountain. There’s one final uphill push and you arrive at the lake. There were a few people at the lake when we got there, but it still wasn’t too busy and I quickly went for my swim before having lunch.

From the lake, you can continue for another 4.5km round trip hike up to the Eastern Sumas Lookout. It includes another 250m of elevation gain, so we opted to skip it on this trip. I don’t know what the view is like from the top, but the trail continues through the forest, so we hiked back to the road instead.

It’s not one of the most memorable hikes I did throughout the summer, but like I said, it’s a great hike for shoulder season or if you just want to get outside for a good walk. I liked that it wasn’t too far away from my house in Coquitlam and that I didn’t have to give up my entire day to hike it. We got in a few hours of exercise and were able to return home mid-afternoon. The hike is dog friendly, so I brought Sadie with me and she loved the lack of people around. So overall, we all had a great time!