Prince George 7-18 McGregor River Access

[Meatrun]

Hi there, I got a cow draw this year and I'm wondering about access. I'm on Van Island and I've only spend a little bit of time on the computer as I don't have maps yet. On Google earth it looks like the only access that connects to bridges is by Purden lake. Is this the only way in?

[jml11]

7-18 has very good access via the Walker Creek FSR in the East and the Mcgregor-Pass Lake Road in the west end. The Mcgregor-pass lake road brings you into a larger network of roads once over the MCgregor river than the walker creek side which is a single road with no spurs (at least no longer open anyways). The way in by purden lake you are refering to is the Mcgregor-pass Lake Road. The only con about this road is that it has not been graded in a long time and is pretty pot hole riddled but is certainly drivable, just slow going.

[Torch]

Your not far from my house... I'm just west of purden... I'll see if i can do some exploring for ya and find a nice way in...

also If your coming up from the island, pm me and you can pull in for the night and rest...have a beer and fire....

[338 winmag]

You can shave an hour off the potholes by taking the Willow River-Upper Fraser route.

[Jagermeister]

I would say that hunt is going to be a challenge for someone that has never been there before. It would be prudent for you to do a little pre-season reconnoitering besides shopping for guidance here. That area could get hit with an early and plentiful snow dump and given that the hunt commences on Oct 10, it could be a safe bet you will see snow. Take extra help with you, be mindful of bears. The blacks will most likely have gone to bed, but the grizzly will be shopping for that last meal be for they tuck themselves in.
Didn't see Torch's post come up before I posted. There's an offer that you can't refuse.

[LYKTOHUNT]

Your not far from my house... I'm just west of purden... I'll see if i can do some exploring for ya and find a nice way in...

also If your coming up from the island, pm me and you can pull in for the night and rest...have a beer and fire....
Now that is a class act, a person cant ask for more

[Bowzone_Mikey]

You can shave an hour off the potholes by taking the Willow River-Upper Fraser route.
I was gonna say ... go in the upper fraser way .... there is a way to get there via north fraser too if I recall correctly

[Torch]

So I just finished looking at the maps of the area...All three routes will work but fuel is your biggest concern...unless you have large tank(s).

1st Option: You can go in north of the fraser (past PG and go right) but its a long drive on a main fsr and you end up at the same spot (fraser river bridge) as if you go in via upper fraser....NOT GOOD

2nd Option: You can go out past purden lake which may be open to grab fuel (this is important), but I am not sure if the gas pumps are open in winter...I'll ask this week when we go there for dinner. BUT the fsr is WAY past purden (1hr+) on thw highway...then back up the fsr (sande creek?) but again you end up at the fraser river bridge.(SAME PLACE AS ABOVE).

3rd Option: Drive to pg,go east on hwy 16...left on upper fraser rd (giscome hwy on some maps), left on ferndale rd...stop for beers and fire and sleep...back onto upper fraser,stop at willow river (LAST GAS STATION/GENERAL STORE), keep heading down the upper fraser to the east until you cross the fraser river bridge (pavement ends) and then go to the left...stay on the pass lake road until you hit the macgregor river (campground available) cross the bridge and go left or right WELCOME TO 7-18!!!

Right will come to a dead end a ways down the road but you may be able to hike/quad in further...

Left will take you around the mountain range you are facing (Dezaiko range) as you cross the bridge and put you in the next valley over...along with access to some other areas, but becareful not to croos into the other ajoining mu's (the bounday's are usually marked but don't count on it...

I'm gonna see about a drive up that area anyhow so if I remember I'll post up what I see...Just remember YOU ARE VERY REMOTE even though its road accesable...even my house will be a good 2 hours away... that said you will probably see folks around...just not many. I don't know muchabout the hunting pressure in that area...I'm new here.. :)

[mxracer328]

So I just finished looking at the maps of the area...All three routes will work but fuel is your biggest concern...unless you have large tank(s).

1st Option: You can go in north of the fraser (past PG and go right) but its a long drive on a main fsr and you end up at the same spot (fraser river bridge) as if you go in via upper fraser....NOT GOOD

2nd Option: You can go out past purden lake which may be open to grab fuel (this is important), but I am not sure if the gas pumps are open in winter...I'll ask this week when we go there for dinner. BUT the fsr is WAY past purden (1hr+) on thw highway...then back up the fsr (sande creek?) but again you end up at the fraser river bridge.(SAME PLACE AS ABOVE).

3rd Option: Drive to pg,go east on hwy 16...left on upper fraser rd (giscome hwy on some maps), left on ferndale rd...stop for beers and fire and sleep...back onto upper fraser,stop at willow river (LAST GAS STATION/GENERAL STORE), keep heading down the upper fraser to the east until you cross the fraser river bridge (pavement ends) and then go to the left...stay on the pass lake road until you hit the macgregor river (campground available) cross the bridge and go left or right WELCOME TO 7-18!!!

Right will come to a dead end a ways down the road but you may be able to hike/quad in further...

Left will take you around the mountain range you are facing (Dezaiko range) as you cross the bridge and put you in the next valley over...along with access to some other areas, but becareful not to croos into the other ajoining mu's (the bounday's are usually marked but don't count on it...

I'm gonna see about a drive up that area anyhow so if I remember I'll post up what I see...Just remember YOU ARE VERY REMOTE even though its road accesable...even my house will be a good 2 hours away... that said you will probably see folks around...just not many. I don't know muchabout the hunting pressure in that area...I'm new here.. :)


Option 3 is yor best bet here. if you go the option 2 route take a left off the highway on the bowron and that brings you out at the upperfraser road just before the bridge. the pass lake road is very pot holy and slow going. from town it takes about 3 hours to get to the mcgregor suspension bridge. i wouldnt do option 1 unless you want to road hunt all the way in. but your looking at adding 2 - 3 hours to your trip. the north fraser is also quite rough. the walker creek fsr is pretty limited unless you have a boat, i wouldnt recommend it.

[Torch]

i have been told that the sande creek fsr out past purden lake is a rough ride by quad let alone a truck...thought i'd pass it along :)

[Bowzone_Mikey]

they were doing some gradeing on the N fraser in early june when I went up to boundry lake ... I dont know how far they were going but i would suspect they are looking at logging some area in there soon if they are grading it

[Meatrun]

Wow, thanks for all the insight. I'm very impressed with this website.

[Torch]

We try to be good people...when were not be smart asses!

Let us know if you have any questions....

[jml11]

1st Option: You can go in north of the fraser (past PG and go right) but its a long drive on a main fsr and you end up at the same spot (fraser river bridge) as if you go in via upper fraser....NOT GOOD

2nd Option: You can go out past purden lake which may be open to grab fuel (this is important), but I am not sure if the gas pumps are open in winter...I'll ask this week when we go there for dinner. BUT the fsr is WAY past purden (1hr+) on thw highway...then back up the fsr (sande creek?) but again you end up at the fraser river bridge.(SAME PLACE AS ABOVE).

3rd Option: Drive to pg,go east on hwy 16...left on upper fraser rd (giscome hwy on some maps), left on ferndale rd...stop for beers and fire and sleep...back onto upper fraser,stop at willow river (LAST GAS STATION/GENERAL STORE), keep heading down the upper fraser to the east until you cross the fraser river bridge (pavement ends) and then go to the left...stay on the pass lake road until you hit the macgregor river (campground available) cross the bridge and go left or right WELCOME TO 7-18!!!

Right will come to a dead end a ways down the road but you may be able to hike/quad in further...



Option #1, north fraser road is extremely slow going due to mega poth holes. All the logging I have seen this past year has been in the first 10 km's so likley not graded beyond this. This way will add a lot of time to the commute in my opinion, unless you are coming from the north.

Option #2...you found the longest possible way in there, lol. The Sande is very rought at the east end, full of big mud holes! Instead you can take the Bowron FSR north off Higway 16 just east of Purden Lake. It connects with the Upper Fraser Road just before the newish bridge over the Fraser River. This road is usually maintained ok as there is a house or two on it. Taking this road versus the Upper Fraser Road the entire way is similar time wise I believe.

[jml11]

I would say that hunt is going to be a challenge for someone that has never been there before. It would be prudent for you to do a little pre-season reconnoitering besides shopping for guidance here. That area could get hit with an early and plentiful snow dump and given that the hunt commences on Oct 10, it could be a safe bet you will see snow. Take extra help with you, be mindful of bears. The blacks will most likely have gone to bed, but the grizzly will be shopping for that last meal be for they tuck themselves in.
Didn't see Torch's post come up before I posted. There's an offer that you can't refuse.


You make it sound like this area is Alaska! Unless it is an unusually cold fall, there won't be much for snow on October 10th expect for maybe the odd dusting. The mountain tops themselves will be covered but all the moose are going to be down low at this time. I have worked in these parts for several years well into October and have never been hindered by snow, ran into plenty of black bears as well but they are looking to den up. Of course now that I have said this, it will snow for sure in early October this year!!

[CanuckShooter]

Option #1, north fraser road is extremely slow going due to mega poth holes. All the logging I have seen this past year has been in the first 10 km's so likley not graded beyond this. This way will add a lot of time to the commute in my opinion, unless you are coming from the north.

Option #2...you found the longest possible way in there, lol. The Sande is very rought at the east end, full of big mud holes! Instead you can take the Bowron FSR north off Higway 16 just east of Purden Lake. It connects with the Upper Fraser Road just before the newish bridge over the Fraser River. This road is usually maintained ok as there is a house or two on it. Taking this road versus the Upper Fraser Road the entire way is similar time wise I believe.

I was out that way last fall poking around ...it's a little rough in sections. We live a little further out on the Upper Fraser Road [Giscome] and I would judge with [B]pavement almost all the way to the bridge over the fraser that going in that direction would be quite a bit faster.

[jml11]

I was out that way last fall poking around ...it's a little rough in sections. We live a little further out on the Upper Fraser Road [Giscome] and I would judge with [B]pavement almost all the way to the bridge over the fraser that going in that direction would be quite a bit faster.

The term "pavement" on the Upper Faser Road is fairly loose in sections, lol. I wouldn't call it smooth and you can't drive it all that fast. It's also pretty curvy around eaglet lake. The Bowron Road is ~24km's to the Upper Fraser Road so probably 15-20 minutes of gravel after 100km/hour on the much smoother highway, the end result is probably a difference of a few minutes depending on your driving style and what you are hauling, semantics really...

[CanuckShooter]

The "pavement" was all redone last year all the way to Willow River....I drive almost to Eaglet Lake on almost a daily basis so I have a pretty darned good idea what the condition of the road is....if you prefer to drive on ungraded gravel roads fly at it. Just giving the OP my take on it. :-)

[338 winmag]

CS is right, you can make good time on it now rather then shake yourself to death on the Bowron. There is one good dip past the tracks that kind of sucks the air out of you when you're going at a good clip :mrgreen:

[jml11]

The "pavement" was all redone last year all the way to Willow River....I drive almost to Eaglet Lake on almost a daily basis so I have a pretty darned good idea what the condition of the road is....if you prefer to drive on ungraded gravel roads fly at it. Just giving the OP my take on it. :-)

The pavement sucks past eaglet around Aleza and the community of Upper Fraser. Last time I drove the Bowron it was fine, but it has been a while. I've driven both routes plenty of times in the past and we are only talking about a few minutes difference...like I said semantics...I would drive the upper fraser road the whole way myself as it is faster from where I would be coming from.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

CS is right, you can make good time on it now rather then shake yourself to death on the Bowron. There is one good dip past the tracks that kind of sucks the air out of you when you're going at a good clip :mrgreen:


I almost launched my buddies D-max on that bump this spring ....

[338 winmag]

You also got to watch for the beavers around Eaglet lake.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee175/redmtn/PA150006.jpg

[mxracer328]

i would the upper fraser, ive timed that way and the bowron way, and upper fraser way is faster, also a nicer drive

[big game chaser]

I had a spring grizzly draw up 7-18 you cant access at walker as the bridge is washed out.I have spent many years hunting this area option thre is the best way for sure but i have to warn ya dont know if i would want to go back up there as the road is rediculous it esed to take me 2 and a hlf hrs to get up there when they maintained them rds but i was 5 hrs from pg this spring so many potholes i thaught i was going to lose my rear end! it is a remote area with lots of moose but has had alot of hunting pressure over the yrs there are three guide outfitters in that area a nd all in all it has been hunted pretty hard !but i must say there is some beautiful country up there and i always seem to end up there a couple times each fall! good luck!

[moosinaround]

K, so, I have read all the posts, here's what yer gonna do................................................ .......Yer gonna drive to PG. Fill up every fuel can you have, top up every tank you have, buy all yer grub licences and shit, and then drive to Torches. Then yer gonna leave hung over the next am and head up the upper fraser hwy to the Pass Lake FSR. From here you will continue along the Pass lake FSR till you hit the suspension bridge across the Mcgregor river. From here you will find a camp spot, set up and drink some more beverages. The next am you will find a moose or 2, shoot them, load up and head home, backtracking in your same tire tracks. Simple!! If I donot get to share in the beverages and fire at Torch's place I'll be pissed!!;) Come on up, we'll get ya going in the right direction!! May even do a little scouting for ya??!! Moosin

[BearSniper]

We were up there last October 21-24 2010 and oddly enough had no snow. Ran into an old work buddy by chance and he reported that out of 9 days they only had one morning with frost. Strange fall. I found the Macgregor Walker Creek FSR
to be quite good. My son got a Whitetail, in spite of moose calf sign everywhere. It is true about the fuel, we had 3 extra gerry cans (6 gals ea.) because the road goes on forever up there. Extra fuel could save your butt.

[Torch]

Moosin and I were up at sinclair mills a few weeks back... the pavement is fine the whole way...don't get me wrong it's no airstrip, but no worse than half the streets in PG after winter...And yes that bump is a doosy!!! hit it at 80 while my boy was sleeping in his car seat on got the biggest WTF look outta him...i think he pooped a bit... Good times!