Lillooet > Pemberton via The Hurley Road

BC | 2025 |

Some of the best riding and sights in BC (IMO) can be found in a triangular area around Pemberton and Lillooet, north to the isolated towns of Seton Portage and Gold Bridge,

Here you can put your intermediate-level adventure riding skills to the test on two of BC's most "infamous" roads: the Highline (Seton Portage to Pemberton), and the Hurley (Gold Bridge or Bralorne to Pemberton). While there is a slight risk of being eaten by a grizzly bear and/or encountering a random Sasquatch, these routes provide a world-class experience. After riding the Highline Road in 2024, I was keen to push further out to Gold Bridge / Bralorne and the Hurley in 2025.

Salmon Arm to Lillooet via McAbee Fossil Bed

For this ride, I took the "old" route to the coast: the Trans-Canada Highway via Kamloops to Cache Creek. Nearby is the renowned McAbee Fossil Beds, located along the highway.

I stopped and did a stomp around the grounds, which are located in an incredible setting. Fossils litter the ground, though you can't take anything away these day. It's definitely worth a stop if you are driving by.

From Cache Creek I turned off onto Highway 99 at Hat Creek Ranch, riding by spectacular and bizarre Pavillion Lake (a NASA research site), then past the 10,000 year old native settlements at Fountain, along the hellacious Fraser River, where trains run through on inconceivably built tracks, then into stunning Lillooet. You even get glimpses of 120+ year old stagecoach wooden treslte roads up on the hills. This is truly a great road.

Seton Lake Campground

I stayed the night at the BC Hydro Seton Lake Campground, 10 minutes out of Lillooet. Aside from its stunning setting, a major upside of this place is that it is free. This trip, I made the short ride over to the beach area at Seton Lake, itself a must-see locale that not many people actually see other than locals

Lillooet to Gunn Creek Campsite / Gold Bridge / Bralorne / Gunn Lake

The next day, I set out for the Gold Bridge, Bralorne, Gunn Lake "triangle". Things started with a short ride along the mighty Fraser River, with views of fishing sites used by indigenous people for millennia. The road forks off at Bridge River for a 1-hour ride to Terzagi Dam and Carpenter Lake. This sector offers stunning scenes, with few vehicles on the road. This was my second time riding this section of the road, and it doesn't get old.

At the dam, the road forks to Seton Portage/Highline or Gold Bridge/Hurley. The paved road ends at the dam, but the unpaved road along the lake is high quality. Across Carpenter Lake you can see the intakes of the amazing Bridge River substation hydro site. The road follows the lake for about 1 hour. I didn't see many other vehicles along the way.

Gunn Creek Campsite and Around

I called it a day here. Incredibly, this is another BC Hydro free campsite. It was about 20% occupied, lots of privacy. As far as campsite go, this is about as good as it gets. I rode up to Gold Bridge, then to Bralorne, then to Gunn Lake. These are all in close proximity. I did this ride in 2 hours or so. Bralorne is a living ghost town, with a famous bar (it wasn't open when I rode into town).

The Hurley Road

The next morning I rode up to the start of the East Hurley Road at Bralorne (there is another start point near Gold Bridge). The start of the road out of Bralorne is one of the most challenging of the whole ride (not much), down a steep decline. The East road may be less travelled; it seemed pretty overgrown and I didn't see any other vehicles. After about 40 minutes of riding, I came to the junction of East and main Hurley roads.

From there, it's a scenic ride into craggy mountains. The road has some serious washboard sections that can wear you a bit. I didn't pass any vehicles, until Semaphore Lakes Trailehead, where there were some older model Tacomas, Outbacks and the like, the wheels of the Pemberton/Squamish hardcore hiker/climber types. Soon after, the road started a long and windy descent down to Pemberton Meadows. I was feeling good when the wheels hit pavement again. Then it was straight to McDognalds in Pemberton!

This trip, I didn't continue on to the coast, instead rode from Pemberton back to Lillooet. Another great route, incredible scenery, including the Joffre Lake glacier. My plan was to stay at Seton Lake Campground again, but instead I bolted back to Salmon Arm.

Synopsis

Overall, the Hurley is a great ride, highly recommended for any moderately adventurous adventure rider like myself. It's definitely a bit over-hyped in terms of challenges, even danger. But you still may want to buy a "I Survived the Hurley" t-shirt.

Lilooet > Pemberton Loop

A loop from Lillooet > Hurley >Pemberton > Lillooet is one of the best rides I have done in BC, highly recommended. Likewise for the Lillooet > Highline > Pemberton > Lillooet route (I did it in 2024, read more here).