Mohun Creek Trail runs from Morton Lake to the Menzies Bay mainline in 7.9 km. Trout Creek Falls is spectacular. It’s incredible any time of the year. I used to fish below the falls and hook into some nice size fish. There is a great campground at Morton Lake. Mohun Lake was named after Charles Mohun, who came to B.C. in 1863, Mr. Mohun worked as a land surveyor throughout B.C. and finished his career in Victoria working in the planning department. He passed away in 1927. Mohun Lake was named after him in 1945. The creek was known as trout creek until the mid-70s before it too was named for Mr. Mohun.
In the winter months the series of falls along the trail is pretty impressive, please be careful as the rocks can be slippery, and the water can run deep and fast.
The fishing was always incredible here in this creek and there was a very large run of sea-run cutthroat that would come every year to the lower reaches, with fish easily reaching 2.5 kilos. There was a great campground right at the mouth and l still remember joining in on fishing derbies here while my family camped on weekends.
Now all of Mohun Creek is closed to fishing from December 1st through May 31st and the stretch from the Camp 5 mainline bridge crossing to Morton Lake is closed year-round. There are many access routes to the creek below the bridge, some from the logging mainline and others from the Snowden demonstration forest area. There are many mountain bike trails in the Snowden area that will lead you to the river, the wildlife along these trails is impressive, and you just might see black bears, elk, lots of elk, deer, cougars, wolves, and plenty of birdlife. The plant life here is extraordinary with many traditional medicines that grow here.
So take a short walk up this creek and see this wonderful waterfall, bring your camera and maybe your swim shorts. There are some amazing sights above Trout Creek Falls. Take the trail on the right, just before the falls. The trail is the beginning of the Mohun Creek to Morton Lake trail. It is 7.9 km long if hiked through or double that if returning the way you came. For a few km, you will hike through a variety of forest conditions along the creek. There are a number of nice, but small waterfalls to see.
As you are getting around the 3 to 4 km mark, you will begin to hear a roar. It’s quite loud during the spring when the creek is running full. After a bit, you start to get glimpses of these falls through the trees, the closer you get, the more you see. Then the trail comes right to the falls where you get to see it in all its glory. We are not sure of the name yet, so we call it High Falls as it is more than 20 meters high. This is a very impressive falls indeed.
After viewing these falls, if you look around, you will see the trail continues. Head up this trail, but as you are nearing the top of the falls, you can bushwhack over to the creek where you will find a large, flat rock on the edge of the falls where you can see right down. When the creek is full, this is quite impressive.
Go back to the trail and keep going, you will be walking along a canyon containing rapids and small falls. About a km from High Falls, you will pop out of the trees onto a set of rocky bluffs. Look straight ahead, and you will see a pretty awesome waterfall called the big crack, this name is self-explanatory. Just above the falls is a beautiful rock canyon pool. It looks like a good place for a swim in the summer or perhaps a nice place to just chill for a while.
From here, the trail follows the creek for a short while before it reaches Mary Lake Road. From Big Crack Falls to the road is about a 10 to 15-minute walk. High falls are about 10 minutes more. So to just visit High Falls and the Big Crack Falls is a pretty short walk from Mary Lake Road. To get on the road, drive up the Menzies Bay mainline for a couple of km and watch for the Mary Lake Road sign, the road is on the right-hand side. If you see the Mohun Creek bridge, you went too far. The Mary Lake road is steep and rough for a bit then it gets ok for a while. You will come up to a fork in the road with one being an old road and the other a new road of shot rock, take the new road. After a couple of km, you will enter a cool and shaded forest. Drive slow and look to the left for the trail, it has a blue ribbon marking it. If you go around a corner and up a short hill, you went too far.
The Mary Lake road is also part of the Mohun Creek Trail, follow this road until you come to a sharp corner with an old road that heads straight ahead. Take the old road. If you are hiking, just continue, but if you are driving and have a bit of clearance, you can drive for about a km where you will see a pullout campsite located on the first pond in a series of ponds. Park here as the road gets rough after this. These ponds go for a number of km and I think it would be a great place to put in a kayak or canoe and go exploring.
To continue the hike just follow the old railway grade, and you will get some nice views of the various ponds as you walk along. There is an abundance of birds, small forest creatures, and plants to see, in the fall there are many interesting mushrooms. Look for an old campsite with some intriguing features. After a bit, you will reach where a bridge used to cross Mohun Creek, the bridge is gone, but there is a log going across, it was slick when I was there last, and we did not attempt crossing here. If you go back a few meters, you will see a quad trail that heads up the hill. You can walk this for about a km as it goes up and then back down to the creek, it’s a pleasant trail. You will come to a rock bluff that runs along the creek, look for another log that crosses the creek here.
This log is a bit bigger, more level and the crossing is shorter. After you get across, just follow along the left side of the creek on the rail grade, and in a couple of km, you will reach Morton Lake. Have fun.
