The Spirit Caves trail is a gorgeous workout hike in Yale, so just North of Hope in BC. This is a short, sweet hike that will get your heart pumping (I feel like that is the case for all the hikes near Hope!) You’ll be rewarded with a wonderful view of the Fraser River as well as a couple of caves to explore slightly further up the mountain.

I should probably mention, that although I LOVED this trail; I nearly died on this one. I was stung by a wasp at the end of the hike and ended up in hospital with anaphylactic shock. (0/10 do not recommend that part!)

Spirit Caves – the basics

Distance: 5.6 km 
Cumulative Elevation gain: 490m
Highest Point: 554m
Time: 2-3 hours (we recorded just over 2 hours moving time, but 3 hours in total)
What to bring: Hiking poles, loads of water, the 10 Essentials
Facilities: Nothing.
Dogs: Dog friendly, but there are bears in the area, so keep them on a leash.
How hard is it? Intermediate. It’s a bit of a grind, but very short and easy to follow.

Spirit Caves trail map

Spirit Caves trail – Getting started

There isn’t much space for parking at this trail. We parked at the entrance to the Yale Pioneer Cemetery where there is room for a couple of cars. Once you’re ready to go, carefully cross the highway and head into the path by the “Spirit Caves Trail” sign.

Yale Pioneer Cemetery

Before you start hiking, visit the cemetery. This was established in 1858 as the final resting place for Yale’s early settlers. It reflects the multicultural heritage of the area and honors the contributions of those who helped shape this community. Hills Bar (on the opposite banks of the Fraser) was where people first struck gold in this area.

The view from the cemetery is lovely – and there is a poem commemorating the pioneers. Once you’ve seen it, cross the road and head up the steps towards the Spirit Caves trail.

The stairs near the start are really cool. They seemed to be made from a giant log, that has been carved into steps; Complete with moss at the edges.

A couple of hundred meters into the walk, there is plank bridge by a small pond which is perfect for cooling down puppies. If your dog is good at shaking (like Arla below) you might get a sprinkling of water as well!

After that head into the forest. The trail is steep the entire way, but at least it is shady. You get the first view down to the Fraser River when the powerline opens up the forest for a moment.

The forest is lush and gorgeous in the springtime.

Lookout above Yale

After just over 2km, you’ll reach this fantastic viewpoint above Yale. You can peek down at the historic town and see the big curve of the Fraser River.

Looking down, it is hard to imagine that Yale used to be the largest settlement North of San Francisco with between 5000-15,000 inhabitants all hoping to find enough gold to be rich. Nowadays the population is less than 150.

Be super careful at the viewpoint as the cliffs drop straight down. If you sit on the bench, you’ll be safely away from the edge.

The top of the trail is just a few hundred meters further up the trail. There are no views higher up, but it’s still an interesting moss-filled forest.

Spirit Caves

We found two of the many caves in the area. I might have to go back to attempt to explore further inside as it sounds like you can crawl further inside than we did. I read on a hiking forum that the “spirit” name is because the local indigenous people said the wind through these caves sounded like spirits, but I’m not sure if that is true.

Heading Back (and nearly dying)

When you’ve finished exploring the caves, head back the way you came, back past the viewpoint and down the switchbacks. We stopped at the creek to cool off our feet, but I don’t recommend doing that, as it is where I was stung.

The tale of the wasp

I noticed the wasp right away and pulled it out. It hurt, but I wasn’t too worried. However I started to feel a bit woozy as we walked back to the car and my hands and feet started to feel itchy. Our next plan was to head to a brewery for lunch, but on the drive there my arms and legs started to be covered in small red bumps as if I had been bitten 50-60 times and I was finding it hard to breathe. Marc changed direction and drove me straight to the nearest hospital in Hope.

When we made it to hospital (about 25 minutes after the sting) my entire body was covered in itchy hives and it felt like I was having an asthma attack. It turns out Canadian Healthcare is really good in emergencies! The nurses/doctors had me into a bed breathing a nebulizer with injected antihistamines and an IV within minutes. Allergic reactions are wild – I could feel the antihistamines going through my blood as the hives calmed down and I could breathe normally again. The whole experience was terrifying. I now hike with 2 epi-pens and benadryl, and I am VERY careful to check recent trip reports for mentions of wasps.

Other hikes near Yale or Hope

If you’d like to explore this area more, you should! There is so much to see. We stayed at the gooorgeous Silver Lake Campground (photo above) so we could take it easy. This would have been perfect as a short hike if I had managed to avoid that blooming wasp.

• Hells Gate – This isn’t a click bait title – this is the narrowest part of the Fraser Canyon and really fun to explore.
• Tikwalus Heritage trail –  Slightly further North, this steep trail takes you along the route the Hudson Bay Company used to carry furs from Kamloops, to Fort Langley.
• Alexandra Bridge – This isn’t really a hike – but it’s another cool bit of history as the original road bridge over the Fraser River.
• Hope Lookout trail – Closer to Hope, this is a super short workout hike with more fabulous views.

Hopefully I didn’t scare you with the talk of nearly dying on a relatively easy hike! The Spirit Caves hike is a lovely trail in this interesting, historical, and beautiful area. Do you like the look of this one? You can click on the pins below to save this for later.