UofA Access Road Gate to Penny Lane

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UofA Access Road Gate Hike Length: 5 to 7 Km Route Type: Loop Difficulty: Moderate

Hike route: “UofA Access Road Gate to Penny Lane”

Hike Details

Trailhead:	UofA Access Road Gate
Hike Length:	5.6 km
Route Type:	Loop
Difficulty:	Rated 72: Moderate 72 / 223
Difficulty:	^{ⓘ Ratings Explained}

Description
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If the suggested “Starter” hikes look a little too tame for you, this hike takes you one step further by guiding you off-road, along the Waskahegan Trail, and then looping back through a hay field on your return to a road.

View route colour key

Brown:
Road - easy going and the route is always clear.

Green:
Usually a well-defined trail, occasionally overgrown.

Blue:
Trail often degraded or overgrown, therefore not well-defined.

Black:
No trail, so navigation is more difficult, yet sometimes a game trail to follow.

Leg	From ➜ To	Distance	Accumulated Distance	Description
1	UofA Access Road Gate ➜ Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection	1.5 km	1.5 km	Start down the hill and wind your way towards Williams Lake. Once you arrive there, you'll want to take in the nice view at "Red Chair Lookout", named after a red folding chair that was carted out to the viewpoint and remained there for years. This road is part of the Waskahegan Trail, a small section of which meanders through a large part of the Ministik. Note: You might notice blue trail markers both before and after you reach Williams Lake. These mark off-road sections of the Waskahegan Trail. The sections are seldom travelled these days, so sticking to the road is your best bet, especially if you're new to the area.
2	Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection ➜ Intersection of Road / Trail	612 m	2.112 km	At the "U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection" waypoint, bear right off the road onto the well-worn single-track trail. Now you wind your way through a somewhat sparse, yet nicely shaded forest of poplar, spruce and birch. The sparseness of the trees often allows the sun to filter through branches to the ground, providing the experience the Japanese call "komorebi". Although the term literally translates to "sunlight filtering through trees" it expresses that feeling of each moment being transient, part of the flow of things and the aesthetically beautiful. That's why it's "The Enchanted Forest". 😃 Follow the trail until you reach the "Turn onto farmer's road" waypoint. You'll reach an open area to your right. The trail gets a little harder to make out for a few meters here but look for the yellow Waskahegan Trail markers on nearby trees in front of you. They'll guide you to a farmer's road. Now turn right and follow the road around the edge of this little hay field. Your waypoint is "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail".
3	Intersection of Road / Trail ➜ Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail	243 m	2.355 km	Now turn right and follow the road around the edge of this little hay field. Your waypoint is "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail".
4	Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail ➜ Waskahegan Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow	510 m	2.622 km	Veer to the right to keep following the road until you reach "Farmer's Road (S)". At this point you'll see a hay meadow off to your right and while you could try to pick up a faint trail just inside the treeline, the better bet is to simply follow the edge of the meadow, keeping the treeline to your left. Walk towards the "Penny Lane" waypoint, which will be around the corner to the left. Follow the narrow lane until it deposits you into a large meadow, named "Shinjuku Meadow" after the busy train station in Tokyo. Both the meadow and the train station are full of entrances and exits. 😃 Here you veer left around the corner and make your way across the meadow using "Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow" as your next waypoint.
5	Waskahegan Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow ➜ U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection	1.093 km	3.448 km	This is the same Waskahegan Trail we left at the intersection with the farmer's road. Follow the trail back to "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail". At this point we're on familiar ground. Make you way back to "Turn onto farmer's road" and turn left to get onto the single-track trail starting at the edge of the small hay field and continuing through "The Enchanted Forest". Continue to the "U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection" waypoint.
6	Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection ➜ UofA Access Road Gate	1.5 km	4.122 km	Turn left onto the road and follow it all the way back to the parking spot at the "UofA Access Road Gate" waypoint. Nice job! You did some road walking, some trail walking and ventured through a couple of hay fields. Perhaps you were able to appreciate the serenity and beauty of this usually "un-peopled" place.

Leg 1

UofA Access Road Gate ➜ Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection

Distance: 1.5 km

Accumulated Distance: 1.5 km

Description

Start down the hill and wind your way towards Williams Lake.
Once you arrive there, you'll want to take in the nice view at "Red Chair Lookout", named after a red folding chair that was carted out to the viewpoint and remained there for years.
This road is part of the Waskahegan Trail, a small section of which meanders through a large part of the Ministik.
Note: You might notice blue trail markers both before and after you reach Williams Lake. These mark off-road sections of the Waskahegan Trail. The sections are seldom travelled these days, so sticking to the road is your best bet, especially if you're new to the area.

Leg 2

Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection ➜ Intersection of Road / Trail

Distance: 612 m

Accumulated Distance: 2.112 km

Description

At the "U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection" waypoint, bear right off the road onto the well-worn single-track trail.
Now you wind your way through a somewhat sparse, yet nicely shaded forest of poplar, spruce and birch. The sparseness of the trees often allows the sun to filter through branches to the ground, providing the experience the Japanese call "komorebi". Although the term literally translates to "sunlight filtering through trees" it expresses that feeling of each moment being transient, part of the flow of things and the aesthetically beautiful.
That's why it's "The Enchanted Forest". 😃
Follow the trail until you reach the "Turn onto farmer's road" waypoint.
You'll reach an open area to your right. The trail gets a little harder to make out for a few meters here but look for the yellow Waskahegan Trail markers on nearby trees in front of you. They'll guide you to a farmer's road.
Now turn right and follow the road around the edge of this little hay field. Your waypoint is "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail".

Leg 3

Intersection of Road / Trail ➜ Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail

Distance: 243 m

Accumulated Distance: 2.355 km

Description

Now turn right and follow the road around the edge of this little hay field. Your waypoint is "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail".

Leg 4

Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail ➜ Waskahegan Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow

Distance: 510 m

Accumulated Distance: 2.622 km

Description

Veer to the right to keep following the road until you reach "Farmer's Road (S)".
At this point you'll see a hay meadow off to your right and while you could try to pick up a faint trail just inside the treeline, the better bet is to simply follow the edge of the meadow, keeping the treeline to your left. Walk towards the "Penny Lane" waypoint, which will be around the corner to the left.
Follow the narrow lane until it deposits you into a large meadow, named "Shinjuku Meadow" after the busy train station in Tokyo. Both the meadow and the train station are full of entrances and exits. 😃
Here you veer left around the corner and make your way across the meadow using "Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow" as your next waypoint.

Leg 5

Waskahegan Trail meets Shinjuku Meadow ➜ U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection

Distance: 1.093 km

Accumulated Distance: 3.448 km

Description

This is the same Waskahegan Trail we left at the intersection with the farmer's road. Follow the trail back to "Intersection of Farmer's Road (N) / Waskahegan Trail".
At this point we're on familiar ground. Make you way back to "Turn onto farmer's road" and turn left to get onto the single-track trail starting at the edge of the small hay field and continuing through "The Enchanted Forest".
Continue to the "U of A Access Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection" waypoint.

Leg 6

Road / Waskahegan Trail Intersection ➜ UofA Access Road Gate

Distance: 1.5 km

Accumulated Distance: 4.122 km

Description

Turn left onto the road and follow it all the way back to the parking spot at the "UofA Access Road Gate" waypoint.
Nice job! You did some road walking, some trail walking and ventured through a couple of hay fields. Perhaps you were able to appreciate the serenity and beauty of this usually "un-peopled" place.

Interactive Route Map
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To see all route waypoints, zoom into the map by pinching open on mobile, scrolling on desktop.

View interactive map full screen

View route colour key

Brown:
Road - easy going and the route is always clear.

Green:
Usually a well-defined trail, occasionally overgrown.

Blue:
Trail often degraded or overgrown, therefore not well-defined.

Black:
No trail, so navigation is more difficult, yet sometimes a game trail to follow.

Download Hike Route and Description
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Hike Route and Waypoints File
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The “.gpx” file contains both the hike route and important waypoints referred to in the hike description. See the suggestions for mobile apps and open the “.gpx” file in one of those apps on your mobile device.

Mobile (Offline) Hike Route Description in PDF Format
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Cell service can go from spotty to non-existent in the Ministik. The leg-by-leg route directions you see on this page are duplicated in a PDF document (".pdf") you can download here to read on your mobile device while offline.

Attachments: (Hike Route and Waypoints File (.gpx) & Hike Route Description (.pdf))

007_penny_lane_loop.gpx
(23kb)
UofA-Access-Road-Gate-to-Penny-Lane.pdf
(259kb)