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Pulpit Rock & the Flagpole

April 2023 – The Pulpit Rock Trail has a recent rockslide and a new bypass has been built 1.0km up. Please use the new route and avoid the closed area.

Pulpit Rock is the most popular Nelson hike. Locals treat the trail like an outdoor gym and sometimes it feels like half the town is out hiking! The Pulpit trail offers a solid workout over switchbacks, ending in a scenic overlook of town. Hiking further to Flagpole rewards you with an even bigger panorama of the river valley – it’s worth the extra effort when you have the time!

Summary
Trailhead: Johnstone Road, Nelson
Distance, round trip: 3.6km to Pulpit Rock, 5.8km to Flagpole
Elevation: +338m to Pulpit Rock, +655m to Flagpole
Season: early April to early November
Difficulty:  Easy to Pulpit Rock,  Moderate to Flagpole

Background

Allegedly, Pulpit Rock has had Nelsonites clambering up it for nearly a century with old mining sites up the mountain. Locals started reclaiming and improving the trail in recent years and now the Friends of Pulpit Rock Society maintains the trail. They have some choice guidelines for hikers.

Trailhead and Driving Directions

Drive about 3 km up Johnstone Road from Highway 3A. Come early – there is overflow parking, but it fills up fast on sunny weekend days!

Pulpit Rock Trailhead

There are no water sources along the trail, so bring a water bottle. This is a popular dog-walking trail, but make sure you’re in control of your pupper at all times as there are bears in the area.

Up to Pulpit Rock

The Pulpit Trail immediately starts switchbacking as soon as it leaves the trailhead. Some switchbacks are long, some are short. All must be hiked!

There have been many recent improvements to the trail, but there are still some steep, rocky sections so take care as you hike! The trail winds through the woods with glimpses of Nelson below and the sounds of city traffic slowly fade as you ascend.

New hikers might take an hour to reach Pulpit Rock, but hardened locals can power-hike up in under 30 minutes. There are even some hard-core trail runners who jog up it!

On the final switch-back, the trail splits into an ‘easy’ and ‘hard’ junction. The more difficult route climbs over a steep rocky section.

Once you reach Pulpit Rock, stop and enjoy the view! There are a few benches scattered around the top and plenty of spots to look down upon the city.

Panorama on Pulpit Rock

The majority of hikers on the trail will only do Pulpit, but continuing on to the Flagpole is a great choice when you have time. It’s a bigger adventure with better scenery! Usually hiking Pulpit takes me about 1.5 hours round-trip (with a nice break at the top!) whereas Flagpole is about a 3 hour outing.

Spring from Pulpit Rock

The Flagpole

Heading up the Flagpole Trail, you’ll continuously meet junctions with ‘easy’ and ‘more difficult’ options signed. That’s because the Friends of Pulpit Rock Society has been doing lots of improvements and trail upgrades to make the Flagpole Trail more accessible for all hikers – hurrah!

Taking the most difficult route will eventually lead you to a some cliffy sections of the trail which don’t have exposure but do require a bit of scrambling. Taking the easier routes will keep you on brand new switchbacks with a nicely graded path.

Fall colours heading up the Flagpole Trail

The forest starts breaking away on the Flagpole Trail and big views of the Kootenay River Valley open up to the West. It’s fantastic hiking, so close to town!

 In the fall, the valley is studded with golden larch and yellow birch. In the spring, wildflowers proliferate up and down the slopes!

Looking down along the Kootenay River
Yellow Balsamroot along the trail in May

If you took the most difficult way, the trail will climb up from the below the Flagpole. Taking the easier junctions will have you pass the scenic bench and come around from behind to Flagpole from the western slope.

The Flagpole

 From this height, Nelson is fully mapped out below – you can sit and watch little dots of traffic shift around the city or see boats swirling on the lake far below. The steep neighbourhood of Uphill looks surprisingly flat when you’re this high!

Fall panorama from the Flagpole
Spring panorama from the Flagpole

If you’re a sucker for punishment, the trail network continues past Flagpole all of the way to the CBC Tower. Flagpole is only about half-way up and along – check out the Elephant Mountain Traverse for more details!

Hiking back towards Nelson
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[…] record snow, it’s taking a while for hiking trails to open up. But south-facing slopes like Pulpit Rock are already snow-free and ready to […]

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[…] CBC Tower trail is an extension of the Pulpit Rock/Flagpole trail, and therefore shares the same busy […]

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[…] wildflowers on the Flagpole trail above Nelson are absolutely fantastic right now. Red paintbrush, blue delphinium, and huge clusters of yellow […]

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[…] CBC Tower trail is an extension of the Pulpit Rock/Flagpole trail, and therefore shares the same busy […]

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[…] usually feels like half the town is out hiking Pulpit Rock. On a sunny weekend day, the parking lot overflows with cars and the trail is bustling with hikers, […]

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[…] by cinnamon buns, we made our way back to Nelson and up the colourful Pulpit Rock trail which soon turned into the Flag Pole […]

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[…] up above the city for a classic hike close by – Pulpit Rock. Hiked for almost a century and referred to by the locals as a “walk in the park”, it offers […]

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[…] up above the city for a classic hike close by – Pulpit Rock. Hiked for almost a century and referred to by the locals as a “walk in the park”, it offers […]

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[…] If you’re keen on happening hikes and seeing every kind of wonderful views that the world has to supply, then one path it’s essential to go on is the Pulpit Rock Trail. […]

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[…] paths and walking trails located in and around Nelson, but the most famous one is to hike up to Pulpit Rock and the Flagpole. The path is relatively easy to Pulpit Rock but more moderate to the flagpole. This will give you […]

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[…] plan is to eventually extend the trail higher to the CBC Tower and then back down to connect to Pulpit Rock Trail on the other side of Elephant […]

Robert J McFetridge
Robert J McFetridge
3 years ago

I used to hike up to Pulpit Rock in 1967 and ’68. In those days I would never see another person. I’m not sure what the CBC Tower is today. In the fall of 1967 I worked with a company that installed the original tower on Elephant Mountain. Each day we would drive up Grohman Ck. and the back side of Elephant Mtn in a ricketty 4×4 to the summit overlooking Nelson. I was 18 years old at the time and the job only lasted about a week.

Trip Date
0008-05-19
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[…] Pulpit Rock & the Flagpole Lyon’s Bluff Trail […]

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[…] lovers will enjoy the Pulpit Rock and Flag Pole hiking trails, just across the Big Orange Bridge (affectionately referred to as […]