Salmo to Nelson - The Great Northern Trail

Three of us spent yesterday riding the Great Northern Trail, an old rail grade between Salmo and Nelson.  There are a number of these routes in the Kootenays and we've done several.  This route mostly follows the Salmo River or the highway for its approximately 48 km distance between the two towns.

The trail rises very gradually from Salmo and is in pretty good shape, for the most part, although ATVs and dirt bikes have made a bit of a mess.  There are many views of the Salmo River but not much else as you're in the woods most of the time.

Once the height of land is reached near the turnoff to the Whitewater Ski area, the trail starts to descend and it was almost not necessary to pedal.  Approaching Nelson, there were views from our position high on the hill down over town.  The trail continued to km 0 where it stopped at the existing and active rail line between Castlegar and Creston.  Ending unceremoniously as it did, with no way out along the rail line, we had to bike back uphill the 5 km to the nearest access point before zooming down through the streets of Nelson (Fairview) to our vehicle.

It was a nice bike trip - not as scenic or exciting as the Paulson to Castlegar trail, but pleasant and interesting.