Ride: Aberdeen Plateau - Bluenose Road, Aberdeen Lake FSR, Dee Lake Road, King Edward Connector, King Edward FSR

South of Vernon and Lavington. Gravel roads, FSRs and ATV trails. Many fishing lakes and camping locations. Endless kms of roads and trails of varying condition in the area.

I've primarily mapped out a loop beginning and ending in Lavington. The area is also accessible from Oyama, Lake Country (Winfield) and Hwy 33. The main FSRs are easily traveled on adventure bikes. The main gravel roads and some of the main FSRs can be ridden on some street bikes (and cars). There can be some mud if wet. There are numerous fishing lakes in the area, some with developed campsites. The side roads into some of the lakes are rough and some can be quite muddy, but some are fairly easy gravel. Some of the trails, connecting FSRs and decommissioned roads can be rough with rocks and mud and are more suitably ridden on lighter dual sports or dirt bikes. A lot of these trails are very muddy with large puddles in the spring after the snow melts - some sections can be completely flooded.

The loop begins with Bluenose Road which becomes Aberdeen (Lake) FSR. Bluenose Road can be accessed from Hwy 6 via Learmouth Road or School Road and Reid Road. From Aberdeen (Lake) FSR take Dee Lake Road. The route goes past Loon Lake, Doreen Lake, Dee Lake, Island Lake, Lost Lake and Swalwell Lake (Beaver Lake). Across from the entrance to Beaver Lake Mountain Resort along Dee Lake Road, the route continues along a secondary FSR (is, or becomes King Edward Connector) to above Oyama Lake and then to King Edward Lake and King Edward FSR back to Hwy 6. Dee Lake Road becomes Beaver Lake Road and will take you to Lake Country.

Bluenose Road, Aberdeen (Lake) FSR and Dee Lake Road is the smoother, better maintained and easier to ride route, especially for more road-focused bikes. Starting from Hwy 6, King Edward FSR is steeper (north end), rougher, has a lot of washboard and can have some muddy sections and ruts. It also has a number of switchbacks (north end) that are often strewn with small loose rocks. For more of a trail riding experience, you can head up Brewer Road which leaves King Edward FSR on the left at about 4 km from Hwy 6. Between King Edward FSR, King Edward Connector, Brewer Road on one side and Aberdeen Lake FSR and Dee Lake Road on the other, there are a number of connecting trails and roads. Sections of these connecting trails and roads can be very muddy in the spring or after heavy rains. Some portions of Dee Lake Road have a good hard smooth surface and are really enjoyable to ride. There has been some road work in the past year along sections of Bluenose Road, Aberdeen (Lake) FSR and Dee Lake Road (the potholed sections of Aberdeen (Lake) FSR to Dee Lake Road were repaired). There are dust control measures (calcium chloride?) along Bluenose Road, so you may want to avoid it if wet.

It is about 38 km from the start of the gravel on Bluenose Road to Beaver Lake Mountain Resort on Dee Lake Road. It is about 12 km from Hwy 6 to King Edward Lake along King Edward FSR. It is about another 19 km from King Edward Lake (recreation site) to the entrance to Beaver Lake Mountain Resort if taking King Edward Connector.

King Edward Connector branches to the left when heading south on King Edward FSR about 0.5 km from the King Edward Lake sign. If you go right, the road (Oyama Lake FSR / Oyama Lake Road) will take you to Oyama Lake (and others) and eventually Oyama. There is a lookout along Oyama Lake Road that offers great views of the Okanagan Valley and lakes. If conditions are dry, King Edward Connector is a fairly easy ride on an adventure bike. The road travels above Oyama Lake (good view). The road gets a bit narrower and a bit rougher the further south you travel. It starts off from the north as a gravel road, but it becomes dirt with some ruts and embedded rocks further south. There is a moderate hill with some loose gravel and small rocks just before K-22 (road), and there is one moderate downhill nearer the south end before Dee Lake Road that has some loose rocks that may give novices pause, especially if on a heavy bike as there is some erosion and loose rocks (small). If it has rained recently expect some mud and puddles.

Of the uploaded GPS tracks, the most challenging section is Alex Road / K17-Connector which connects Dee Lake Road to King Edward Connector. This is an alternate route to part of the main loop. If you are riding this road on a bigger, heavier bike use caution. It is not well maintained. Expect rocks and mud and tree branches or small logs on the trail. You need to have more dirt-oriented tires. I wouldn't recommend taking something like a V-Strom through here unless you are skilled, have 50/50 tires and a strong skid plate. I didn't have much trouble on my DR650, but the muddy sections would have been easier if my rear tire hadn't been so worn. I last rode this section on my CRF250F in Oct 2023, and there were a lot of puddles, mud and rocks.

You can also take Echo Road from Dee Lake Road to King Edward Connector. Part of it was in pretty good condition in 2018, but if you continued past King Edward Connector, it gradually deteriorated and eventually reached a point where it is decommissioned (berm and small creek at about 10 km from Dee Lake Road). I've only ridden a short distance past the berm; the trail was partly overgrown, and there were small logs across it and a partial washout at that time.

There are a number of other routes that connect Aberdeen FSR to King Edward FSR. In the spring, or after heavy or prolonged rains, these trails can be very wet (large puddles) and muddy. Some of them have moderately to quite challenging rocky and/or slippery sections, depending on your skill level and the bike you're riding. I wouldn't classify the ones that I've ridden as expert or black diamond trails, though; I would say they're more in the range of easy/novice to intermediate if on a lighter dual sport or dirt bike. A particular trail may start off easy, but if it starts to get too difficult just turn around.

As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of other trails and roads on the Aberdeen Plateau and in the surrounding areas. Happy riding / exploring!

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