Coffeepot Mountain And Teapot Mountain

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Coffeepot Mountain And Teapot Mountain

On 21 August 2021, Zosia Zgolak and I hiked up Coffeepot Mountain and Teapot Mountain, a couple of ancient volcanic plugs that stand conspicuously above the surrounding landscape north of Prince George, British Columbia. While there is a fair amount of route information available online for these two diminutive mountains, we were flying somewhat blind that day and relied mostly on the brief descriptions in the Northern BC edition of the Backroad Mapbooks. Teapot Mountain is the more popular of the two and has a well-established trail while Coffeepot Mountain is not as well-traveled. As such, we tackled Coffeepot Mountain first, but figuring out the approach required a bit of trial and error and maybe even a little luck.

From Highway 97, turn west onto a good gravel road 7.1 kilometres south of the community of Bear Lake or 41.3 kilometres north of the Salmon River bridge. There should be a big wooden sign here which reads "Winton Global Hart Sawmill Division". Drive 2.0 kilometres and turn left onto the Davie-Crooked Forest Service Road. Almost immediately, the road splits; keep right. Staying on the well-maintained gravel road, drive 7.8 kilometres before turning left onto a rougher road (high-clearance recommended) heading south. Drive about 1.1 kilometres to reach a small pullout beside the trailhead (54.421374 -122.744374) which is marked by a small sign.

As Zosia and I drove toward Coffeepot Mountain, we had no clue about where to start. Most of the route information that I have found online advocate some combination of bushwhacking and scrambling, but to our surprise, we stumbled onto an actual trailhead on the east side of the mountain after some driving back and forth along the various roads in the vicinity. The flagged trail which leads to the top of the mountain is short but steep. After climbing up this initial section, we did a clockwise loop around the forested rim of the mountain. There are a few open viewpoints scattered along the loop, but the surrounding landscape is mostly flat and unremarkable. The actual high point is also rather ambiguous, and in the end, we went off-trail a bit to tag a nondescript bump roughly where the summit is marked on my GPS unit's map. We subsequently checked out one of the small lakes improbably located on the mountain top before completing our loop and descending back to the trailhead without fanfare.

	The trailhead for Coffeepot Mountain is marked with a small sign.
	The trail going up Coffeepot Mountain is rocky and steep.
	A hawk scrutinizes some intruders on its territory.
	The trail essentially circumnavigates the perimeter of the mountain top.
	Zosia finds what looks like a tea pot and sends her mother in Poland the message, "Kawowa Góra dla Tereski".
	Sonny and Zosia have the good "fortune" to locate the underwhelming summit of Coffeepot Mountain (1016 metres).
	This lake seems out of place sitting atop Coffeepot Mountain.
	Total Distance: 2.6 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 1 hour 51 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 121 metres GPX Data

Once we returned to our car from Coffeepot Mountain, Zosia and I drove back out to the highway and turned our attention to Teapot Mountain.

From Highway 97, turn west onto Talus Road 21.2 kilometres south of the community of Bear Lake or 27.2 kilometres north of the Salmon River bridge. Drive 950 metres and turn right onto Caine Creek Road. Drive 3.4 kilometres to a junction with the trailhead access road. Park here. The actual trailhead (with outhouse) is about 130 metres up the access road, but parking is limited there.

As already mentioned, Teapot Mountain is exceedingly popular, and there were already several cars parked near the trailhead when we arrived. Similar to Coffeepot Mountain, the trail initially climbs steeply before doing a loop on the mountain top. The viewpoints along this loop offer a little better scenery due to the close proximity of some large lakes. When we went off-trail again to find the summit, Zosia inadvertently discovered a survey marker which turned out to be the actual high point (Teapot Mountain's summit is marked incorrectly on my GPS unit's map). With the summit completely covered by trees, I am puzzled as to how the original surveyors were even able to make any measurements. In any case, we bushwhacked back to the loop trail once we were satisfied that there were no other potential high points to tag. The descent back to the trailhead was quick and painless.

Teapot Mountain would turn out to be the final hike of our long road trip through north central British Columbia and Haida Gwaii. Zosia and I subsequently stopped in Prince George to check the weather forecast, and with rain on the way, we decided that it was not worth hanging around the area for another day or two. Instead, we drove all the way home to Calgary that night to conclude our 22-day odyssey (4400 kilometres driven, 15 summits tagged, and 6 rounds of disc golf played).

This is a very popular trail.
Zosia hikes up Teapot Mountain on a steep and rooty trail.

Looks more like a waffle maker than a coffee pot!
Coffeepot Mountain is visible about eleven kilometres away to the north.

Feels like we're in Ontario!

Zosia holds up a thermos full of tea at a viewpoint near the top of Teapot Mountain.

	Summit Lake can be seen to the south from the viewpoint.
	Surprisingly, a survey marker can be found on the completely forested summit of Teapot Mountain.
	Zosia and Sonny tag the viewless summit of Teapot Mountain (917 metres).
	Total Distance: 2.7 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 2 hours 13 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 195 metres GPX Data

	Zosia hikes up Teapot Mountain on a steep and rooty trail.
	Coffeepot Mountain is visible about eleven kilometres away to the north.