Enderby Cliffs

BOU AVENUE
Enderby Cliffs

On 11 October 2026, Zosia Zgolak and I paid a visit to Tplaqín/Enderby Cliffs Park located northeast of Enderby, British Columbia. A signed and well-maintained trail runs to the top of the cliffs that comprise the main attraction of the park. The hike is popular but also quite strenuous since the trail rises nearly 700 metres over a distance of about 6.5 kilometres. The park's map also shows the trail continuing to nearby Reeves Lake, but this extension entails some elevation loss and significant extra distance. Furthermore, the highest point of the park is apparently located on a semi-open hill just northeast of Reeves Lake, but prior to our hike, I could find no information regarding this hill and was uncertain about the extent of bushwhacking required to reach it.

Starting from the signed trailhead (50.57591, -119.10470) located at a parking lot near the end of Brash-Allen Road, Zosia and I headed east along an easement to the park boundary and settled into a long but generally straightforward ascent up a mostly forested trail. On this day, we had to be careful with our footing on a few muddy sections but otherwise encountered no serious difficulties. Upon gaining the ridge crest, we turned northward to follow the trail along the top edge of the cliffs. The views here were incredible and had us stopping often to take photographs. The very top of the cliffs--labeled as "Summit" on the park map--grants far-reaching views in nearly all directions and is the logical turnaround point for most hikers.

	Morning fog obscures views of Enderby Cliffs from the trailhead.
	The top of Enderby Cliffs is barely visible at far left as Zosia walks along an easement to the park boundary.
	A little more than two kilometres up the trail is this wooden waycross which was apparently carved by villagers from Oberammergau, Germany.
	Zosia stops along the trail to view the fog-covered valley.
	Zosia passes a very large boulder that had likely tumbled down from the slope above ages ago.
	The trailhead parking lot is visible at lower right as Zosia continues climbing up the trail.
	Zosia gets her first good look of the day at Enderby Cliffs.
	Zosia hikes along the top edge of the cliffs.
	Zosia reaches the "Summit" of Enderby Cliffs as marked on the park map.
	Zosia and Sonny give thumbs up on the Summit of Enderby Cliffs (1185 metres). To the northwest, a sliver of Shuswap Lake is visible just left of centre in the distance.

The start of the trail to Reeves Lake is not marked, and it took Zosia and me a bit of searching before we found it (head downhill directly east of the Summit). The trail goes through light forest and runs over a hump--the second highest point in the park--before dropping steeply to the lake. There are no jaw-dropping views here, but hiking to the lake was nonetheless straightforward and pleasant. Though it is not marked on any maps, the trail continues past the lake, and we followed it as far as a col just west of the aforementioned semi-open hill. At this point, we abandoned the trail and easily made our way through light bush to the top of the hill where we finally stopped for a long-overdue lunch break.

When Zosia and I resumed hiking, we backtracked to where we left the trail and easily hiked back to the lake. The return climb over the hump to the Summit was not as grueling as anticipated, and we had another chance to marvel at the surrounding scenery as we hiked along the top of the cliffs for a second time. The remainder of the hike back down to the trailhead went without a hitch.

	The actual high point of the park is visible at dead centre through the trees.
	Officially-named Reeves Lake is located about two kilometres northeast of the Summit of Enderby Cliffs.
	After hiking about 800 metres past Reeves Lake on a good trail, Sonny goes off-trail to climb up to the park's high point. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the true high point (1260 metres) of Tplaqín/Enderby Cliffs Park.
	Zosia begins the long return journey which entails climbing back over the forested hump--the second highest point (1258 metres) in the park--at centre.

This would look amazing at sunset, I bet!

Zosia returns to the same viewpoint where she had gotten her first good look at Enderby Cliffs--this time in full sunlight.

	This is the view of Enderby Cliffs from the trailhead without fog.
	Total Distance: 22.1 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 9 hours 4 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 1017 metres GPX Data