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30th Anniversary of the Trails and Cabins

Please check the Events Page for work parties and celebrations of the 30th year of this Community Legacy!
This page has important travel and safety information and current bulletins. Please read if you are a new visitor to Tetrahedron Provincial Park, especially when there's snow on the ground.

Want to know what conditions are like in Tetrahedron Park or on the access road (Sechelt-Gray FSR), or if folks are planning overnight stays in the cabins? There is a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group. The club is encouraging Tetrahedron Park users to visit and/or join the Facebook Group (you don't have to be a TOC member and it's a public group so you can see the postings without joining) and this is where the most current info can be found. By joining the FB group you can easily share or ask for info, post photos, communicate with the group or specific members, post outdoor gear for sale, propose trips or events.
Download a good contour map of the Park with summer and winter trails and cabins locations.

Current Bulletins about the Park, Road, Trails, or Cabins

***VANDALISM AND THEFT AT WINTER PARKING LOT***
On at least 2 occasions earlier this year vehicles parked overnight have been vandalized, or broken into with items including camping gear, clothing, and wallets stolen. DON'T LEAVE ANY VALUABLES IN YOUR VEHICLE! 

Steele Creek (past Edwards on the way to Steele or McNair cabins) is without a bridge and may be difficult to cross during high water conditions, though this is unlikely during July-August.

The Chapman Creek bridge (Edwards Cabin to McNair cabin) is damaged but can be crossed with care. Or take your boots off and walk (with poles) across the creek. 

TRAVEL SAFETY, CONDITIONS, WEATHER

IF YOU ARE TRAVELING IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK YOU SHOULD CARRY A GOOD MAP OF THE AREA, which can be found on the maps page of this website.

THERE IS NO RELIABLE CELL PHONE SERVICE IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK. There is unreliable service at and above Mt. Steele cabin, and service near the bottom of Sechelt-Gray FSR. Helicopter rescue to this area is highly dependent on weather and visibility. Any emergency rescue would mostly likely be a GROUND RESCUE by volunteers of Sunshine Coast Search and Rescue and MANY hours away.

YES! AVALANCHE HAZARDS EXIST IN TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK! IF YOU INTEND TO TRAVEL TO EDWARDS OR MT. STEELE CABINS you should know what the current avalanche conditions are and make appropriate decisions. For current avalanche info go to the Canadian Avalanche Association's website and consult both the South Coast and Sea-to-Sky bulletins.
  • There is an avalanche hazard along the last section of old logging road past Victor's Landing on the way to Edwards: it's a short slope but if it slides - and it does during constant-loading storm cycles and freeze-thaw conditions - it could carry you down into the trees below. Stay safe on this section during extreme conditions by spacing yourselves out, or avoid it by using the Gilbert Lake route from the upper lot.
  • High winds create unstable slabs and cornices all around Mt. Steele and its interconnecting ridges. A very significant avalanche hazard exists in the west-facing bowl between Mt. Steele and its lesser peak to the southwest. AVOID TRAVEL ABOVE EDWARDS CABIN WHEN AVALANCHE HAZARD RATINGS ARE SIGNIFICANT.
  • If you are unfamiliar with the trails and you are visiting during or just after a blizzard you should expect the trail markers to be obscured by snow and tracks to be covered.
  • If visibility is bad and you do not know where Steele cabin is do not go past Edwards cabin. Trail markers in the open rocky area above the forest may be obscured by fog or wind-driven snow, and the trail is usually covered by snow well into July.
  • If you have not been to McNair cabin in the winter you should have a map and route-finding skills. This route is rarely taken in the winter and markers can be faint or missing, especially in the meadow and pond area above and below Chapman Lake. The cabin will not be a landmark and in many years it gets entirely buried by snow.
  • MAPS

For likely freezing levels, snow, rain, and general conditions forecasts at similar elevations check out the Cypress Mountain 6-day Forecast and the Grouse Mountain webcam (at around 1000m):
  • lower (winter) parking lot 820 m (2690 ft)
  • upper (4wd summer) parking lot 940 m (3084 ft)
  • Batchelor cabin 1010 m (3314 ft)
  • Edwards cabin 1130 m (3707 ft)
  • McNair cabin 975 m (3199 ft)
  • Mt. Steele cabin 1500 m (4921 ft)

WINTER ACCESS TO TETRAHEDRON PROVINCIAL PARK
A generous volunteer plows the road when time and conditions permit.
Sechelt-Gray FSR is a gravel Forest Service Road, 11 km long and climbing to ~2500 ft (800m) from sea-level. In the winter IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR VEHICLE HAS 4WD, OR IS A HIGHER-CLEARANCE AWD, AND YOU HAVE CHAINS AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM.  A SHOVEL COULD ALSO BE CRITICAL. The road is often icy and rutted, and is narrow and steep in places. What looks like a shoulder may just be a ditch filled with snow.

GENERAL INFO ABOUT THE PARK AND LINKS TO GPS DATA
BC Parks website
Maps page
Picture

Fundraising


The Tetrahedron Outdoor Club presents an annual screening of the Best of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in November as the main club fundraiser.

A huge THANK YOU to this year's local sponsors!!

Alpha Adventures Outdoor Adventure Store
Coast Reporter
Coast TV
Experienced Equipment
Gibsons Building Supplies
Haley GM
HollisWealth
IGA Marketplace (Gibsons & Sechelt)
PaceSetter Athletic
Sunshine Coast Community Forest
Sunshine Coast Credit Union
SCRD Sustainability Services
Sunshine Kayaking
Trail Bay Source for Sports
The Hangar Climbing Lounge

Tetrahedron Outdoor Club Thanks the SCRD, Town of Gibson, and the SIGD for Road Maintenance Funding
The TOC acknowledges and appreciates the funding grants received in 2015 from the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Town of Gibsons, and Sechelt Indian Government District, which allowed us to carry out road maintenance on the Sechelt-Gray Forest Service Road. Funding is used for road grading, brushing, and other maintenance work to continue to provide safe access to Mount Richardson and Tetrahedron Provincial Park. (These grants are not used for snow ploughing, or for work within the Park.)

Who We Are...

The club came into existence in the early 1970's, originally as The Tetrahedron Ski Club. The founding members were mostly employees of Howe Sound Pulp and Paper and began skiing the freshly logged slopes near the mill and later on Mt. Elphinstone. Four log cabins and a network of trails in what eventually would become Tetrahedron Provincial Park were built by mostly volunteer labour in 1987 - close to 300 people - through a partnership that included the club, local forest industry, and the Ministry of Forests. Today, the club continues to maintain the cabins and trails under a stewardship agreement with BC Parks. The generous work of countless volunteers allows the public to enjoy the vast playground of the Tetrahedron.

Club Executive

President: 

Directors:
Marilyn Downey
Danny Fleischhacker
Michel Frenette
George Smith
​Phil Gaulin
Gerry Marcotte
Bryce Rudland
Jay Caple-Frenette
Administrator:
Natasha Gellatly

Cabin Stewards

Batchelor Cabin - Gerry and Ellen Marcotte
Edwards Cabin - Victor Bonaguro and George Smith
Mt. Steele Cabin - Sam Preston and Bryce Rudland
McNair Cabin - Danny Fleischhacker, Melissa Rayfield, Steve Brewis

All executive members, cabin stewards, and the administrator can be reached via email.