Hiking Tenquille Mountain near Pemberton

 5/5

Tenquille Mountain Hike Information

Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 4.70Km
Elevation Gain: 720m
Highest Elevation: 2,391m
Average Gradient: 30.60%

Effort/Reward Ratio: High / High
Time Needed:
– Slow: 4 – 5 Hours
– Moderate: 3 – 4 Hours
– Fast: 2.5 – 3 Hours

Dogs Permitted?: No
Season: ~July to October
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No – But it helps
Scrambling / Exposure: Minimal scrambling, no exposure

Tenquille Mountain Trail

Trailhead Coordinates: 50°33’23.8″N 123°01’16.0″W

Tenquille Mountain Overview

Tenquille Mountain is a towering summit located slightly north of the namesake Tenquille Lake, and is a somewhat popular hike during the summer for visitors to the lake. It’s also one of the many peaks included in Scrambles in SWBC, so anyone looking to complete this book will have this peak on their radar.

The stats above assume starting and finishing at the lake, so if you plan to complete this as a day hike from the trailhead, you will need to add on the stats for hiking to Tenquille Lake also. This is more than manageable as a day hike, especially if you have a capable vehicle to reach the trailhead.

The route to Tenquille Mountain begins on an obvious trail from the lake. It soon splits though, with another route heading up to Finch Ridge. The trail rapidly disappears shortly thereafter, at which point you will need to self-navigate through steep talus slopes and cliff bands to the top. The views from the summit, and indeed for much of the approach, are very rewarding, with Tenquille Lake below, along with the backdrop of endless mountains.

Many parties complete this hike as part of a 3 peak traverse on the northern side of Tenquille Lake, also summiting Finch Ridge and Goat Mountain before descending back to the lake. For those intending to do the traverse, most will begin by ascending Finch Ridge before working west over Tenquille Mountain and ultimately Goat Peak, before descending a steep couloir back to the lake. This route involves some Class 3 scrambling and moderate exposure, so should only be attempted by confident and capable parties.

This route alone is mostly just steep hiking and route finding, with little need to scramble and only mild exposure.

In terms of seasonality, this hike is best saved for mid-summer onwards, typically July to October. The mosquitos can be horrific in the Pemberton Valley in early summer (July), so if you want to avoid this I would suggest going between mid-August to the end of September for the best conditions. Snow will likely still be around in June, and while the lake may be accessible, reaching Tenquille Mountain could come with some navigational complexities if the trail is still snow covered. The terrain is steep, so you would likely want traction and an ice axe if going in snow.

Dogs are not welcome at Tenquille Lake and thus the same goes for the mountain.

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Is Tenquille Mountain worthwhile?

 5/5

Tenquille Mountain is a more involved ascent than the nearby Finch Ridge, mostly due to trickier route finding, though it’s also quite a bit higher and offers broader views. It’s also an official peak while Finch Ridge is arguably just a part of the eastern ridge of Tenquille itself. With that said, Tenquille would be the preferred choice of the two. The nearby Goat Mountain is a more technical outing and usually involves going over Tenquille anyway.

If you are looking for a simple and scenic hike, Finch Ridge may be preferred, or you can just combine them both together as we did (this can involve Class 3 scrambling depending on the route you take).

How difficult is the hike to Tenquille Mountain?

This is a short but very steep grind straight up the mountain to the top, as evidenced by the 30% average gradient. Still, it’s such a short hike on its own that you could be on the summit within an hour and a half or so from the lake. Of course, if you’re starting from the trailhead it will increase the challenge quite a bit.

Technically speaking, Tenquille Mountain is a bit more complicated than Finch Ridge as the route finding is a bit trickier due to a series of cliff bands. You shouldn’t really need to scramble much, nor is there any real exposure, but it is very steep in certain parts. If you plan to connect to Finch Ridge, however, you can easily find yourself on a Class 3 scramble with some exposure.

Tenquille Mountain Route Information

From the Tenquille Lake cabin, you’ll want to cross the creek immediately outside, and hike along the trail leading past the washroom. You’ll find yourself on an easy to follow trail winding its way through the scenic Tenquille meadows.

The first few hundred meters are easy, but the climb soon starts, and once it does it never really stops. The trail connects to a small moraine through the middle of the meadows, before reaching a steep climb next to a creek. You’ll follow this creek briefly, at which point you’ll reach a split in the trail. There may be a sign here indicating going left or right. Going left will begin the ascent of Tenquille Mountain, going right will begin the ascent of Finch Ridge.

Obviously you’ll want to go left, and after climbing another 100m or so the trail will soon dissipate. From here on you should treat the GPX as a loose guideline for the direction you want to go, as there is no trail anymore and the terrain is somewhat complex.

The general direction is typically obvious, but you’ll frequently be forced into detours left and right in order to avoid a cliff band or simply to just find the easiest route up. The steepest section is between ~2,000m and 2,250m, where there may be a few sections that you’ll utilize hands here and there, primarily just for balance. It should never really be exposed, nor should there really be any true scrambling. If there is, you’ve probably gone the wrong way.

From around 2,250m the gradient eases off and the rest of the way to the summit is quite straightforward. The summit itself is broad, so much so that it’s not that easy to determine where the true summit actually is. Still, the views are breathtaking all around and if you’re lucky you may see mountain goats (they’re somewhat common in this region).

Once finished you can simply descend back the same way you came.

Adding the Traverse to Finch Ridge

If you plan to also summit Finch Ridge I would strongly suggest ascending that first, then traversing over to Tenquille Mountain. Details for that can be found on the Finch Ridge description, which also includes the GPX for this route.

Connecting Tenquille with Finch Ridge typically involves scrambling if you go the most direct way, but this isn’t absolutely required, as you can theoretically drop down to the Finch Ridge hiking route before climbing back up. This just involves more elevation loss and regain.

The reason Finch Ridge is suggested to be ascended first is because you would then be scrambling UP Tenquille rather than down. Scrambling uphill is generally easier than downhill, especially with route finding.

Adding Goat Mountain

From Tenquille Mountain you can continue west in the direction of Goat. There is a notch between these peaks and some route finding and Class 3 scrambling with exposure to reach Goat (supposedly, I never went). To return from Goat to the lake, most parties will descend a very steep Class 2/3 gully between Goat and Tenquille, however you could also return back via the same hikers route on the ascent, this would just mean climbing back over Tenquille on the return journey.

When should I hike Tenquille Mountain?

July to October is the peak season for the Tenquille Lake area, however I would suggest avoiding July and early August if you want to avoid mosquitos. As such, mid-August to early October is the best time to visit. Unfortunately this can coincide with forest fire smoke, so do check the smoke forecast if this is an issue.