Goat Peak

BOU AVENUE
Goat Peak

On 2 July 2026, Zosia Zgolak and I ventured up Goat Peak located in the Beaverdell Range of British Columbia's Okanagan Highland. I picked this objective because it is one of the few summits along the middle portion of Highway 33 that is not completely covered by forest. In fact, the summit is the site of an abandoned fire lookout, and access is relatively easy via a rough but passable forest service road (FSR). Unbeknownst to me before this trip, the ascent route is actually described in a rather obscure publication which I already had in my possession but had neglected to consult. Instead, I relied mostly on Steve Gosselin's blog site (via peakbagger.com) to figure out the driving access (included in my GPS track at the end of this report). Since we were approaching from the north, we would take the FSR which begins from Wallace Mountain Road in the village of Beaverdell, and although I certainly could have pushed my Honda CR-V further, we decided to give my car a break and start as Gosselin did about five kilometres short of road's end.

From where we parked, Zosia and I continued on foot up the road. Though somewhat mundane, the hiking was easy, and we also stopped often to feast on wild strawberries growing along the road. We passed two major junctions, and at both of them, we kept left. It took us under two hours to reach road's end at the base of Goat Peak's spectacular summit block. A good trail continues up the north and east sides of the summit block, and we had no problems reaching the abandoned fire lookout at the top. After poking around the inside of the fire lookout, we wandered to both the north and south ends of the summit block before settling down for a break.

During our break at the south end of the summit block, Zosia and I were surprised to meet a woman who arrived after us. Her partner was at the fire lookout, but we did not see him initially. The woman departed before we finished our break, but when we resumed hiking and dropped back down the trail to road's end, we ran into her again with her partner at their parked car. Surprisingly, they offered to drive Zosia and me back to our car after learning that we had driven up from Beaverdell. They had driven up a different road from the south (joining our road at the first of the aforementioned major junctions) and were not keen to return the same way. Zosia and I gladly accepted their offer, and after introducing ourselves, we learned that their names were Catherine and Jim. We then all promptly piled into their car, and Catherine expertly drove us back down the road to our car without any serious difficulty. During the drive, we learned that Catherine and Jim are avid peak-baggers just like us, and we had interesting discussions about various peaks and related health issues. Before disembarking, Zosia and I exchanged contact info with Catherine and Jim and thanked them for their kindness. They disappeared down the road as we unloaded our gear at our car, but we soon followed suit and made it safely out to Beaverdell to conclude our adventure on Goat Peak.

Giving my car a much-needed break! Sonny leaves his parked car here and prepares to hike the remainder of the access road to Goat Peak.
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

Really? Someone has painstakingly painted pink splotches at regular intervals along the access road.

Second breakfast! Wild strawberries help alleviate the monotony of hiking the access road.

Looks interesting... Zosia catches her first glimpse of Goat Peak's summit block through the trees.

Wow! Wasn't expecting this! Here is a clearer view of the summit block.

The most interesting part of the hike begins here. Zosia stands below the cliffs of the summit block near road's end.

No scrambling required...except to get over fallen tree! Zosia ascends a good trail below the cliffs.

It's actually only partially abandoned because the lower concrete space is still secured for some unknown reason. Sonny approaches an abandoned fire lookout which sits atop of Goat Peak.
Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

The place could use a good sweep but is otherwise not in bad shape. Zosia holds up a visitors' log book inside the fire lookout.

Dang, how did we miss climbing Nipple Mountain? Here is the view to the northwest from the top of Goat Peak.

Mount Bonaparte is in the US and high on my to-do list. This is looking south from the fire lookout.

We were there just yesterday!

Zosia stands at the north end of the summit block with Big White Mountain visible behind her.

	Sonny and Zosia stand in front of the fire lookout at the top of Goat Peak (1747 metres).
	Zosia salutes the hikers driving away who gave her and Sonny a ride back to their parked car.
	Total Distance: 11.3 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 4 hours 8 minutes* Cumulative Elevation Gain: 399 metres GPX Data * Includes descent via motor vehicle

	Sonny leaves his parked car here and prepares to hike the remainder of the access road to Goat Peak. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Someone has painstakingly painted pink splotches at regular intervals along the access road.
	Wild strawberries help alleviate the monotony of hiking the access road.
	Zosia catches her first glimpse of Goat Peak's summit block through the trees.
	Here is a clearer view of the summit block.
	Zosia stands below the cliffs of the summit block near road's end.
	Zosia ascends a good trail below the cliffs.
	Sonny approaches an abandoned fire lookout which sits atop of Goat Peak. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Zosia holds up a visitors' log book inside the fire lookout.
	Here is the view to the northwest from the top of Goat Peak.
	This is looking south from the fire lookout.