A 5.7 km hike on Kelowna’s Southern slopes. (round trip)
1. If you have been on the Angel Springs trail before:
If you have been on the Angel Springs trail before; looking for these warm-springs, but having no clue what to expect, the Angel Springs is just a section of KLO creek where hydrothermal activity heats the water to 29 degrees Celcius at the warmest. The springs do not occur in one specific area but several parts of the creek in the area of the trail that are warmed by seeps of hot water from inside the earth. Water from the springs is found in a small ravine and is identified by its bright orange colour. The colour of the water comes from algal growth and some iron-bearing minerals.
2. If you have never been on the trail, but would like to visit the springs:
This is a very nice hike, and is not too terribly long, although wet conditions due to run off in the spring can make the hike very long and slightly unenjoyable. To get to the springs you follow June Springs Rd untill it changes into a dirt road, Little White Forest Service Road, follow this until you get to a flat area where you could park, this is where the trail starts. (This parking area also provided a place for a little bit of pellet gun target practice due to a nice embankment that stops all pellets.) The cordinates of the trail head are:
49 (degrees) 48’31.01’’N
119 (degrees) 22’28.69’’W
and the elevation is approximately 3129 feet.
Thanks to Rob who commented on this post, I was corrected and have found this information on the Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park website (Angel Springs Trail is in the park):
Hunting
Note: There is a large population base using the Crawford Trails network, and hunters are urged to be cautious when hunting in this location.
I believe you can follow the trail as a loop. Have fun!
The following trail pictures are old with a cheap camera – send me yours after you complete the hike!
At the first fork, go upwards (right) and follow the trail and signs. These pictures were taken in the spring when there was lots of water on the trails in Kelowna. The trail is pretty wide at first then narrows down as it follows the Myra Canyon just outside of Kelowna.
At the 1 km sign post on Little White Forest Service Road there is a nice parking area with lots of banks that work well for pellet gun and sling shot practice.
I did this hike the other day for the first time. This is now my favorite hike close to the Kelowna area. Not too short, not too long. Steep enough on both ends to get you huffing and puffing a bit so that you feel like you earned it when you get to the end. Lot’s of twists and turns and things to see so you don’t get too bored.
Not many soggy areas on the trail right now so no problems with soggy shoes. When I got to the end the sign said that’s as far as the trail goes. Someone wrong on it “not true” so I decided to keep going. The trail continues down to KLO creek and some nice view of the surprisingly big canyon and follows the creek down presumable to the old trailhead but I don’t know where that was. It’s a bit steeper than the new trail and doesn’t look well used but it’s still marked well. Instead of continuing on and finding myself coming out miles from my car I turned around at the “KLO creek this way and Angel Springs that way” sign and went back up.
On my way back I came upon a black bear heading my way down the trail. After my heart skipped a few beats and my mind started racing the bear seemed to just kind of calmly think(about eating me maybe?) for a few seconds before turning and casually walking off into the bush. He (luckily) didn’t seem surprised to see me. I was trying to whistle the whole time because I did see some relatively fresh bear poop on the trail so maybe he heard me.
Thanks for this excellent update on the Angel Springs Trail Fred. I have been wanting to check out the trail again for awhile. Now that the bears are using it, I will make sure I bring my camera. 🙂 …and bear spray.
I think that old trail you took will eventually meet up with Field Rd. that leads you to Scenic Canyon Regional Park. I will explore down there some day soon. Was the run off ripping through the end of the trail where the Angel Springs sign is when you were there.
Thanks again for the update, if you have pictures from this trail or GPS tracks, email them over and I will add them to the post. This is a very popular trail on the website.
No significant run off. Angel Springs is not much more than a trickle right now. One or two steps and your across. KLO creek is not very high either. I had to cross it to get to the continuing trail on the other side which was no problem. Just have to find a good spot with some dry rocks and/or deadfall. Actually slipped on some wet rocks on the way back, fell in and lost my sunglasses but that’s another story.
ahhh, dude that is really is too bad. Hey, I’ll look for them when I hike in to get a GPS track for Angel Springs Trail. I guess if they floated down the creek they are probably gone eh.
is Their Any soaking Areas on the creek ?
Any soaking Areas on this trail ?
My Great Grandpa Moved To Kelowna in 1916 and had told us about the hot springs up in that area but never got shown wear .
Sorry for the delay in posting Dave! I’ve been busy the last several weeks on renovations.
There are now places to soak except in the running creek. It is not really a hot springs.
If anyone has new pics, please email them to me as the ones above are quite old and not of good quality.
Thanks!
The info out there seems to say that there are areas you could soak along the creek. If this is true it does not seem to be along the Angel Springs Trail.
The warmest parts of the creek only get to 29 degrees C, about 7 degrees C below body temperature. If there are ‘soaking areas’ it would seem awfully cold this time of year.
Angel Springs is included in “Hot Springs of Western Canada” by Glenn Woodsworth (Gordon Soules Book Publishers, 1999). The following information comes from that source. It is referred to as a “warm spring”, is classified as undeveloped, and says it is too cool, small, and unattractive for soaking. The temperature of the main spring is given as being 21° to 25° but supposedly is as warm as 29° at one spot where the water seeps from the ground.
Late July 2012 the trail was washed out but still an exellent adventure for our first loop tour of the area.
My wife and I set out from the parking lot and rode as much as possible and walked across the creek 5 / 6 times and carried our bikes over log jams and some missed trail markings. Still it was a beautiful day we never saw a sinlge person, like back country riding in the backyard and the trip was great. The ride back from the lower bridge back to the trail head where we parked was a bit of a long road grunt, in the heat of the day but we did it start to finish.
Thank you for the update on the Angel Springs Trail conditions and the picture!
Hello
I was just wondering if anyone has been up the trail this year yet that could update on the condition. If not i do intend on doing this hike this spring i will try to update after. I did want to let you know there is one error in your review. The park is a shooting area, firearms and hunting are permitted in all areas of Myra Bellevue provincial park. But any hunter should use caution because it can be busy at times but hikers and bikers should also becareful because hunting is permitted there, and they should not be alarmed if they see someone with a firearm.
Cheers
Hey Rob. Thanks for the update. I was surprised to see that hunting is allowed in Provincial Parks. It would be great if you leave a quick comment here a day or so before you go up there and if I can I will meet you there.
Here is the quote from the Myra Bellevue website:
Hunting
Myra-Bellevue is open to hunting. Check the British Columbia Hunting and Trapping Regulations synopsis for further details.
Note: There is a large population base using the Crawford Trails network, and hunters are urged to be cautious when hunting in this location.