Hiking Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain near Manning Park
Contents
Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 14.70Km
Elevation Gain: 1,100m
Highest Elevation: 2,024m
Average Gradient: 14.97%
Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 8 – 9 Hours
– Moderate: 6 – 8 Hours
– Fast: 5 – 6 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: ~June to October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? Yes
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°19’28.3″N 121°16’56.3″W
The above coordinates go to the beginning of the FSR. You’ll need to switch to your mapping of choice (Gaia, AllTrails etc.) to navigate the road to the end.
Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain Overview
Johnson Peak is a summit sitting slightly west of Mount Outram on the outskirts of Manning Park. The average hiker probably doesn’t know a lot about it as it doesn’t see that much traffic, however they likely do know about Hope Slide, which occurred on Johnson’s lower west peak. Nowadays this western summit is unofficially called “Hope Slide Mountain”, and due to the history of the area it gains some interest, whereas were it not for the Hope Slide disaster, it likely wouldn’t.
For those not familiar, the Hope Slide was a massive landslide involving the total collapse of half of Johnson Peak (Hope Slide Mountain, in this case). It sent over 47 million cubic meters of debris downslope, completely burying Highway 3, killing 4 people and totally displacing Outram Lake. As a result, the highway needed completely rerouting to bypass the debris (which only took 13 days!), much of which is still evident when you drive past. It is the 2nd largest landslide in Canadian history, behind Mount Meagre.
Johnson Peak is typically accessed via Eleven Mile Creek FSR. This road has seen varying degrees of condition over the years, but in recent times it has been gradually getting worse. Just a few years ago, driving to roads end at around 1,500m was smooth sailing in any SUV, but nowadays it is completely littered with very aggressive cross ditches that makes it suitable only in high clearance vehicles, and even then the current conditions of the road (2025) is worse than that of Cheam Peak. The stats above assume you are able to begin the hike at a three way junction at 1,400m elevation. If you have to park nearer the beginning of the road, you’ll be adding significant distance to the day (10km+). That’s still manageable, but it obviously makes for a much longer outing.
Johnson Peak is predominantly a summer outing (June – October) assuming you intend to drive to high elevation. It’s possible as a spring trip on snowshoes as well, but that means hiking along the FSR for multiple kilometers. Most of the hike is a pleasant ridge walk with excellent views, however there is certainly a short stretch of bushwhacking to gain the ridge.
This is a dog friendly hike assuming they don’t mind a bit of bushwhacking.
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Are Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain worthwhile?
Johnson Peak offers very rewarding views from the top, and indeed for much of the ridge. The nearby peaks of Hatfield, Manson and MacLeod provide a constantly pleasant backdrop, and once you gain the summit the views are panoramic of the usual Manning Park peaks (Outram, Silvertip etc.). Depending on where you parked, adding on Hope Slide Mountain is entirely optional. If you parked where I did it’s a fine addition to what would otherwise be a short day. If you have to park far down the FSR, adding Hope Slide Mountain likely becomes less appealing. It’s lower than Johnson, it adds probably 5km / 400m of gain to the day and the travel to get there is a little more involved than just stopping at Johnson. You also cannot see Hope Slide from the top unless you continue further along the ridge, descending another ~170m from Hope Slide Mountain’s summit towards the slide itself. Of course, if you really want to see the slide from the top, have at it, I didn’t bother.
How difficult is the hike to Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain?
Again this entirely depends on where you manage to park your vehicle. From where I parked this was a perfectly manageable day hike, with a round trip time of 5 hours 45 (inc. Hope Slide Mountain). Physically speaking it was mostly straightforward, probably on the easier side of “difficult”.
Technically the only real challenge of this hike is the bushwhack up to the ridge from the end of the FSR. There’s a little under 200 vertical meters of bushwhacking to contend with to reach the ridge, most of which is simple, but some of it can get marshy. You may have to deal with some slide alder in spots, but it should never be that consistent and you can usually find a way around. The forest can be a little disorienting, so a map is very helpful.
Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain Route Information
The hike to Johnson Peak begins from wherever you decide to park on Eleven Mile Creek FSR. I’ll assume you parked where I did, otherwise you’ll need to hike along the FSR to reach the same point.
From where I parked, you’ll continue hiking to the end of the FSR at around 1,600m. You used to be able to drive to this point, but nowadays it’s likely only ATV accessible (unless logging starts up again). The views here are already impressive, with a clear sight of the entire ridge you’ll hike along to the peak.
From the end of the FSR you’ll now enter the treeline and immediately cross over the beginnings of Eleven Mile Creek (easy to cross here). The initial bush will be light and travel will be fairly simple, however as you gain elevation it becomes denser.
There’s not much to it other than grinding up through the forest, doing your best to avoid slide alder / marsh and ultimately aiming for a saddle between Johnson Peak and Mount Manson at around 1,740m. Once at the saddle, gather your bearings as it’s not entirely obvious which way to go at this point (I briefly set off the wrong way before realizing).
You’ll now drop down a small boulder field before climbing up the other side and beginning to work up the eastern ridge of Johnson Peak. Once you’re on the ridge proper you should easily find a faint trail, after which the remainder of the route is easy to navigate. The views will now begin opening up to the north, with Hatfield, Manson and MacLeod all offering excellent views for the remainder of the hike.
It’s now just a case of continuing to follow the trail along the ridge towards the summit, which is only about 2.2km from the saddle, so it should only take 45 minutes or so depending on how many stops you take. The ridge is broken in a few spots, so you’ll have to navigate around a few cliffy drops, but it’s all easy stuff and you never need to get close to any falls or anything.
From the summit of Johnson Peak the views will be 360 degrees, with Mount Outram now dominating the skyline to the west, and Silvertip to the south. Now you can decide whether to continue along to Hope Slide Mountain, or call it a day and return to the car.
Continuing to Hope Slide Mountain
Assuming you want to go on, you’ll now drop off the NW slopes of Johnson and continue working along the ridge. It’s a fairly steep and (at times) bushy descent, with a far less obvious route to take. Somebody has painted numerous rocks / trees in red paint along the way, so if you see these you’ll know you’re on the right track. If not, refer to your map. Generally speaking you can either stick close to the ridge or drop onto the southern aspect and work through a mixture of meadows and trees. The ridge itself isn’t always passable due to cliffs and trees, so in all likelihood you’ll do a bit of both.
Ultimately you’ll descend almost 200m before beginning the climb up again. Thankfully the climb now is straightforward, initially through open forest and lastly through a section of burnt forest. Soon enough you’ll reach the summit of Hope Slide Mountain, where the views aren’t quite as good as Johnson Peak, but still pretty nice. As noted, if you want to see Hope Slide itself you’ll need to descend ~ 170m on the NW ridge of Hope Slide Mountain to reach the top of the slide. Of course, if you do this you’ll need to climb back up once you’re done. Either way, you’ll return to Johnson Peak via the same route, which means reclimbing the 200m you dropped earlier, then hike out the same way from there. The bushwhack on the way back down is a lot easier than going up it.
When should I hike Johnson Peak & Hope Slide Mountain?
Johnson Peak is likely best in the summer if you are able to drive to the end of the road. This makes for a fairly short and straightforward outing, even if you want both peaks. Some people might prefer spring to cover the bushwhack in snow, however this will usually add a good amount of distance to the day. Time it well though and you may be able to both drive high and still have snow to cover the bush, but that period will be brief, likely towards the end of spring (perhaps May).
Top Tip
Bears are fairly common in this area as it’s quite isolated, so do prepare accordingly.
If you don’t think you can drive to roads end, bringing a bike would be helpful as the road is in good shape for biking.
If you want to extend things further, you could feasibly add on Mount Manson from the Manson / Johnson col. This is a more involved scramble than Johnson Peak though.
