Trip 068 - August 25-26, 2014 (Monday-Tuesday)

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road

Near Chilliwack, BC

Distance From Vancouver (Grandview Hwy Entrance to Hwy 1 East): About 109 km: 93.5 km from Grandview Hwy entrance to Hwy 1 East to Exit 123 (Prest Road) - turn right (South), then 5 km on Prest Rd and turn left on Bailey Rd, then 700 meters later at a split stay right on Elk View Road. Continue on Elk View Road until it ends ten kilometers later, and Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road begins.

Liked: The smoothest FSR road surface we have ever seen, several impressive mountain views, a great shooting area.

Of note: Lots of trash at all unhosted campgrounds. No cell phone signal.

Vancouver, Coast & Mountains Backroad Mapbook (2010 edition) Coordinates to the Beginning of the FSR: Page 4 (Chilliwack) F5.

Other Trips in Chilliwack Area: Flora Lake Trail, Williams Ridge Trail, Mount Thom Lookout Loop Trail, Vedder Rotary Loop Trail, Teapot Hill Trail Hike, Chilliwack Dyke Trail, Greendrop Lake Trail, Mount Cheam Peak Trail, Ling Lake Trail Hike (off Chilliwack Foley FSR), Chilliwack Foley FSR, Elk-Thurston Trail, Slesse Memorial Trail, Downtown Chilliwack BC Visit, Chilliwack Lake FSR, Radium Lake Trail, Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, Minter Gardens, Town of Agassiz BC, Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park.

Other Forest Service Roads Trips: Chehalis (by Harrison Mills), Chilliwack Foley, Chilliwack Lake, Chuchinka-Colbourne (North of Prince George), Clear Creek (off Harrison East), Harrison East, Harrison East Second Trip, Harrison West, Florence Lake (access to Stave Lake by Mission), Jones Lake (near Hope), Lost Creek (by Mission), Mamquam River (by Squamish), Nahatlatch (near Boston Bar), Parsnip West (by Mackenzie), Scuzzy (by Boston Bar), Shovel Creek (off Harrison East), Sowaqua Creek (by Hope), Squamish River Main, Squamish River Ashlu, Squamish River E-Main, Squamish River FSR Washout, Windfall Creek (by Tumbler Ridge).

Follow @ihikebc

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road, aside from servicing the forest, has several other good reasons for existence: it leads to Elk-Thurston Trail, has several campgrounds, and also gives an alternative way of access to Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park. It was very enjoyable to explore this road, aside from seeing all the garbage at unhosted campgrounds.

For more detailed photo directions on getting to Chilliwack Bench FSR, check out our Elk-Thurston Trail Hike trip report.

If you zero your trip odometer at the Chilliwack Bench FSR start (where the asphalt ends and the gravel begins, in other words where Elk View Road meets Lookout Road), here are the approximate distances to various attractions along the way:

KM	Feature	Side
0.5	Chilliwack Bench Sign (photo #2)	Straight (S)
1.0	Elk-Thurston Trailhead	L
4.6	Chilliwack Army FSR	R
7.4	Shooting Area (photo #6)	L
12.7	Large Campground (photo #10)	R
13.6	Small camping area	R
14.0	Mt. Thurston FSR	L
14.4	Rapids Campground (hosted)	R
16.3	Chipmunk Campground	R
16.8	Chilliwack Bench FSR Ends - Chilliwack Chipmunk FSR continues ahead and is also on the left side	S
18.7	Chilliwack Chipmunk FSR Ends - Chilliwack Foley FSR continues ahead and is also on the right side (on the right side is a 2 km connector to Chilliwack Lake Road)	S

1. We are at the end of Elkview Road (AKA Elk View Road). To the left is Lookout Road. Straight ahead (on the right side of the photo) is the beginning of Chilliwack Bench FSR. Zero your odometer here, if you wish to follow the mileage landmarks in the table above.

Corner or Elkview Road and Lookout Road Chilliwack British Columbia

2. We are at the Chilliwack Bench FSR sign, which is placed 0.5 km after the asphalt ends and gravel begins (which is at the Elk View Rd and Lookout Rd intersection). The speed limit is 40 km/h, easily attainable.

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road British Columbia Canada

3. This road is quite smooth by FSR standards.

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road

4. One kilometer after the beginning of Chilliwack Bench FSR, Elk-Thurston Trail would be on the left side.

Elk-Thurston Trailhead at Chilliwack Bench FSR

5. We hiked Elk-Thurston on Monday, and continued driving on Chilliwack Bench on Tuesday.

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road BC Canada

6. Here's guessing that this is where the remote gunfire sounds were heard from when we were hiking on Elk-Thurston the day before. This place is littered with thousands of spent shells and cases, and various targets with numerous bullet holes. This is a natural firing range, with a great backstop. This photo was taken from the roadway to give you an idea of the available range length.

Firearms Shooting Area Chilliwack Bench FSR

7. You won't be bored while reloading your shotgun - this great-looking mountain is seen from the roadway near the firing range. Slight zooming used.

View From Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road British Columbia

8. The mountain close-up.

Photo of Mountain on Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road

9. There are several impressive mountains along this road, though the quality of the view depends on the sunlight.

Picture of Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road BC Canada

10. There are also several unhosted and unserviced campgrounds along Chilliwack Bench. And, while the settings are picturesque, the amounts of garbage are, at times, overwhelming. Here is one such campground.

Bluemoose Campground Chilliwack Bench FSR

11. River view by the campground.

River by Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road BC Canada

12. Dinner, anyone?

Campground Cooking Area Chilliwack Bench FSR

13. We are back on Chilliwack Bench FSR.

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road BC Canada

14. The photo below doesn't do this mountain much justice, as it looks substantially better when you see it with your own eyes.

Mountain by Chilliwack Bench FSR British Columbia

15. One more mountain view from the road.

Chilliwack Bench Forest Service Road BC Canada

Then, we connected with Chilliwack Foley FSR, covered in the next trip report. Chilliwack Bench is a neat forest service road to explore, aside from all the garbage at the campgrounds.