Cycling the Columbia & Western Rail Trail - Castlegar to Christina Lake - BC Canada

Another short adventure with Frank and Daphne and friend Tannis, bikepacking the Columbia and Western (C&W) Rail Trail between Castlegar and Christina Lake in British Columbia, and exploring its history along the way. This ride was done in Sep 2021.

[@recstoppauseplay]

Nice video work and a great ride! You did well with good campsites and fine weather!

[@daphnebehindbars]

@@recstoppauseplay Thank you, and yes we were really lucky with the weather on this trip

[@FollowThomas]

Riding a bike summer time in Canada is very beautiful with all these views. Thanks for sharing 👍😊

[@daphnebehindbars]

Glad you enjoyed the scenery Thomas!

[@PrairieDog53]

Well done! Thanks for sharing your trip videos and helping us be inspired!

[@I_Am_Bone]

You camped right at the bridge! That's awesome! With all my mapping and fussing etc, I have been doing, I neglected to plot possible camp sites between Castlegar and Christina Lake! Re-watching this video has been brilliant! Thank you.

[@steevesfamilyadventures1103]

Great video. Thank you for sharing with us. My wife and I are planning on riding from Castlegar to Rock Creek this summer with our two daughters and we appreciate seeing what the trail is like from others who share there stories. Thank you 😊

[@daphnebehindbars]

I'm delighted you found this video and thanks for watching. Hope you and your family have an awesome adventure when you do that ride in the summer! My one tip - bring plenty of water as the water sources are not as plentiful as you might expect. Happy trails!

[@mr.q7943]

Great video. I want to thank you for showing that it IS possible for all groups (motorized and otherwise) to share and enjoy this trail. A lot of other bikers look down on the moto-riders...especially along the KVR. We hope to travel this exact section in June of this year. We already cycled a few km's from Christina Lake northwards, but got turned back by the rains...hoping to complete the entire trip to Castlegar and back!

[@daphnebehindbars]

Appreciate the comment! And hopefully the weather will cooperate on your next attempt..... I'm sure you will enjoy the rest of this beautiful trail 😁

[@JirkaVor1]

Beautiful as usual and the weather was good for you.

[@daphnebehindbars]

You'll soon know all the trails in BC! Thanks for watching...again!

[@mbiraside]

Just happened to see this come up and realized you just posted it. Great job on the video and showing the trail and the added history. The kootenays have some very interesting stories as you know. I was out riding in the Slocan Valley today during some January thaw mild weather, meaning a couple of degrees above freezing, but thats enough. Thanks for sharing.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thanks for watching! Glad you're getting out on the bike for a winter ride!

[@erickkiraly30]

I rode my bike from Paulson detour to Christina lake couple weeks ago. what a beautiful ride

[@VesicantCorn]

How did it go? Looking to do this in a couple weeks

[@GrindThisGame]

Thanks for sharing your trip. I hope to do the KVR route this summer or next.

[@daphnebehindbars]

Sounds great - we've never done the whole KVR but would like to. Thanks for watching!

[@goodshipharmony]

Great job documenting your ride. Beautiful views! What is your accent? It sounds Irish?

[@daphnebehindbars]

Thank you! And you're right - I am from Ireland, although Canada has been home for many years now

[@enoisporai...7772]

muito bom ...

[@DanaBarakauskas]

What type of bikes did you use for this adventure?

[@daphnebehindbars]

We were riding our full suspension mountain bikes. However, you could ride it on a gravel bike or hardtail, at least based on trail conditions when we did it.

[@roseratliffe3541]

Hi, lovely. Where did you find information to plan this trip? I would like to plan a trip including on to Grand forks and Midway

[@daphnebehindbars]

Hi Rose. One of the best resources is the Trails BC website trailsbc.ca/ Under their TransCanada Trail tab, choose the area you're interested in - in this case West Kootenay, then choose the subsection you want at the bottom of that page. You'll find all kinds of information there, including an interactive map showing camping, bathrooms, etc. This will cover the section to Midway as well. You might also find this one useful columbiaandwestern.com/attractions/ The Great Trail official website is also useful, particularly if you go to the "Explore Map" section, which has an interactive map that if you click on the section you're interested in, you'll get some useful info. Not as good as the Trails BC website though for any of the BC parts. Do a google search for Columbia Rail Trail as well and you'll find all kinds of stuff. Have fun planning your trip!

[@roseratliffe3541]

@@daphnebehindbars thank you. We got to bike Myra Canyon, around Osoyoos and Midway to Greenwood as day rides this year and it certainly left me wanting more, especially as I learned more about family and then area history- a grandfather was born in Phoenix.