Hiking Winter's End (Verona) Peak on the Coquihalla
Contents
Winter's End (Verona) Peak Hike Information
Difficulty: Difficult
Distance: 11.60Km
Elevation Gain: 890m
Highest Elevation: 1,700m
Average Gradient: 15.54%
Effort/Reward Ratio: Moderate / Moderate
Time Needed:
– Slow: 6 – 7 Hours
– Moderate: 5 – 6 Hours
– Fast: 4 – 5 Hours
Dogs Permitted?: Yes
Season: ~December – April
4×4 / High Clearance Required? No
Scrambling / Exposure: None
Winter's End (Verona) Peak Trail
Trailhead Coordinates: 49°34’17.5″N 121°10’58.0″W
Disclaimer: Winter hiking (snowshoeing) involves significantly more risk than summer hiking. Hikers should be prepared with appropriate education, training and equipment for all possibilities, including but not limited to avalanches. A mistake such as going off trail, getting lost or injured can be far more dangerous in winter than summer. You are responsible for your own safety, and while I am happy to give my opinion on this website as to the avalanche risk of a specific hike, do not take this as fact and please do your own research. Everybody has different risk tolerances and mine might be different to yours.
Winter's End (Verona) Peak Overview
Winter’s End Peak, also known as Verona Peak, is a summit located near the Coquihalla Recreation area, slightly west of the more popular objectives like Needle Peak and Yak Peak, and south of Iago Peak. There is no trail to the summit, with most of the route following an FSR, before a steep forest grind up to the ridge. Due to the lack of trail, Winter’s End tends to be a winter/spring objective when snow covers the bush, making for a smooth and largely straightforward ascent. Summer ascents tend to be rare, though it’s certainly feasible if you don’t mind bushwhacking.
The trailhead for this hike is from a pullout on the west side of the Coquihalla Highway, near the Box Canyon Chain Up area. Unfortunately, due to no (legal) turnaround options on the Coquihalla, most drivers will have to follow the highway to the Zopkios Brake Check and turn around there in order to access the trailhead. Some people opt to illegally perform a U-Turn on the highway to avoid this, though naturally this is not recommended due to the obvious risks.
Winter’s End is not a very prominent peak, in fact it could be argued that it’s merely the end of the long ridge leading from the higher Iago Peak. Regardless, the views are quite nice and this makes for a short, scenic option with no technical difficulty and little avalanche risk.
Adventurous parties could make this a lot more interesting by taking two vehicles, leaving one at the Zopkios Brake Check parking lot, driving the other to the Box Canyon trailhead and completing a through hike covering the whole ridge from Winter’s End Peak to Iago Peak, before hiking back out to Zopkios. This would pass over Great Bear Peak along the way as well.
Dogs are welcome in the area.
Maintaining this website requires a significant investment of both time and money, if you find this website a useful resource, please consider making a donation using this button.
Is Winter's End (Verona) Peak worthwhile?
Winter’s End Peak is a short, scenic, non-technical and low risk hike to a nice, albeit not breathtaking summit. If you are looking for something straightforward that gets you to some pleasant winter views, this fits the bill quite nicely. You can also be fairly confident that it will be quiet, as not many people have this hike on their radar. If you combine it with Iago Peak then this will be a much more involved and more worthwhile outing, but that will be a long day.
How difficult is the hike to Winter's End (Verona) Peak?
Difficulty for snowshoeing trips largely depends on the conditions when you go. If you go in favorable conditions and you benefit from tracks to follow, this will be a largely straightforward climb to the top without much complication . On the other hand, if you go after a recent dumping of snow without tracks to follow, this could be pretty challenging. Ultimately, try and time it after a period without too much snow, and you’ll likely find it just fine. Either way, 11.60km isn’t a very long hike, and the average gradient is quite manageable as well.
Technically speaking it’s largely straightforward. Much of the elevation is knocked off following the FSR (which is quite a scenic one), before a steep 300m forest grind to gain the ridge. Once on the ridge, it’s a simple case of following it along to the broad summit. There is very little avalanche risk, with the only steep section in the forest.
Winter's End (Verona) Peak Route Information
As noted, the trailhead for Winter’s End Peak is from a pullout on the WEST (driving south) side of the Coquihalla. With most people accessing the region from the EAST (driving north) side, crossing over to the other side becomes problematic. Most people will drive up to the Zopkios Brake Check, where you can legally turn around, while others will perform a U-Turn on the highway by pulling into the Box Canyon chain up area, before pulling an illegal U-Turn upon exiting. The parking area is plowed in the winter and has space for several vehicles.
From the parking lot you will want to locate the FSR that runs parallel to the highway north. There is another FSR that leads away from the highway, which you don’t want to take.
Once on this FSR it is merely a case of following it. The first 700m will run parallel to the highway, while climbing gradually. You’ll soon take your first of several switchbacks, now leading into the forest. After a total of around 3km of following this FSR, with a few more switchbacks thrown in, you’ll reach an open stretch of road with largely unobstructed views. This part is actually quite scenic (by FSR standards), with clear views to the south of the slopes of Bombtram Mountain, as well as to the west of the Flatiron and Needle Peak.
After around 4km of following the FSR you’ll want to pay attention to your GPX, as the point at which you enter the forest isn’t too far away now. If you’re following tracks and they’re going generally the right way, you should keep following them. There is no “correct” route up to this ridge, and tracks will no doubt make it easier. If not, it’s time to start blazing your own trail.
Most people will begin their forest grind at around 1,340m, with the ridge topping out at 1,620m or so. The initial stretches of the forest are a tad bushy, but after climbing 100m or so it thins out into largely sparse trees and open slopes. All of it is steep, but it’s just a matter of one step in front of the other until you break out of the trees.
Eventually the trees will thin out just below the ridge, and in short order you’ll reach the ridge proper, where the views to the north and east now open up. All that’s left now is following the broad ridge up to the summit, which is only around 600m away with little elevation left to gain.
The summit area is very broad and partially tree’d, but you’ll still have plenty of views. Flatiron, Needle and Markhor Peak will all lie to the east. Yak Peak, Iago Peak, Zupjok/Llama/Alpaca, Vicuna and Guanaco Peak will be to the north. To the west will be the impressive Anderson River Group of peaks, with Gemse and Steinbok looking particularly pointed, and to the south Bombtram Mountain will steal the show. If you look carefully you will also see the ridgeline route following the ridge to Iago Peak.
After resting up at the summit, you simply retrace your steps back down to the FSR and ultimately to the trailhead.
When should I hike Winter's End (Verona) Peak?
Peak winter and early spring will be best for Winter’s End Peak, as you want a healthy snowpack to cover the forest bush. With that said, January to April is best, but a month either side might be okay as well.
Top Tip
You shouldn’t need an ice axe or mountaineering crampons for this one, just snowshoes and microspikes should be plenty. Poles will be helpful in the forest as well.
