South Lawson (Little Lawson) Hard

Moderate – Hard
8km
4-5 hours
Elevation Gain: 750m
Summer, Winter, Fall

I promised myself I would not let the thrill of completing the hike and the power of the day, decide the difficulty of this hike…. Often after getting to the car, taking off all your gear, and relaxing the trek you just completed becomes “easy” in the mind. But the truth is, it was steep, and relentless. For 3km. In snow. The fact that it took us 3 hours to get to the top and 1/2 hour down says it all! We basically skied down. But it was amazing!!!!

This hike has stunning views from the top and a few breaks through the trees on the way up to see how much elevation gains you’ve done. The trail was a little hard to find just because it snowed the night before so we just followed a bunny trail up! There are a few pink markers to reassure your going the right direction.

When we started the trail we thought we were reading the directions and took an obvious trail but it continued to follow the road with little elevation gain. So we turned back and went the right way.

When turning onto the Smith Dorrien Trail coming from Highway 40. You will park at the first road that turns off to the right (or north ish) it is blocked off with a gate and says for “Workers only” thats the trail head. You’ll walk for about 1km before reaching this water gate, dam like structure where you’ll find a way to cross the creek. After crossing the creek, turn left. and walk up. and up. and up and up. And when you feel like your hitting the tree line, GO UP! It would be pretty hard to get lost on this mountain, its “lone standing” and really the only option is up, so if you feel like your off trail, don’t panic.

I would not find this trail ski or snowshoe friendly, theres a lot of rocks and narrow paths were we had to duck under and around trees. So I would just make sure you have some poles, good gripped boots and maybe some cramp ons.

In the summer I would imagine this would be a great hike! Its short, with great rewards. As long as the creek isn’t too strong to pass. Below is a pic of what to look for to know your on the right track, where this pic is taken is right where we crossed the creek..