Old Cascade Highway is a gravel road sightseeing highway exploring the switchbacks, trails and wilderness scenery in the Monashee Mountain Range. The scenic highway goes by many names such as the Old Cascade Highway, Santa Rosa Road and the Old Cascade-Rossland Highway. The highway connects the community of Rossland, BC to Christina Lake.
HOW THE MAP WORKS
The route is broken up into smaller tracks based on the type of riding surface. Colour-coded for your convenience! Green is paved, Blue is unpaved, and red is unpaved but either more technical or has something on it that may be trickier for some rider/bike combinations. I’m never going to make assumptions about your skill level or enthusiasm, you know you. Always ride to what you’re comfortable with.
Surface:
Gravel the entire route.
Distance:
62km – 2,500m vert gain/loss
Sevices:
None along route. Food and fuel in both Christina Lake and Rossland
Access:
Simple access right outside both towns.
Old Cascade Highway
The Old Cascade Highway is a historic transportation route which is the ultimate day trip through the mountains via a narrow, gravel road travelling over two mountain summits. The gravel highway route is popular for accessing mountain biking, hiking, dirt biking, atv-ing and horseback riding in the summer.
The highway road measures approximately 62 kilometres and is divided into three sections – the Cascade side, the middle and the Santa Rosa side. Closest to Rossland is the Cascade side. The highway road is a mixture of pavement and good gravel roads. The road contains many switchbacks while navigating up through forests and along mountain ridges leading to a summit and great views.
Closest to the community of Christina Lake is the Santa Rosa side of the gravel highway. The roads are rough, with loose gravel sections. There are switchbacks leading over big hills and through mountain valleys connecting to the Santa Rosa Summit and some great views. The best views on the Old Cascade Highway are found on the Christina Lake side, just before the summit.
There are no services on this highway. Be prepared and always ride with tools, a spare tube and water. Weather and temperature can change quickly in the mountains. Be prepared for flying rocks and dust clouds as the route sees a lot of traffic from all vehicle groups.
The Cascade Highway is also an access road to wilderness adventures. There are trailheads to some of the more popular hiking, backpacking and mountain biking trails in the region like the Seven Summits Trail and the Dewdney Trail.
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