Keyhole Hot Springs

Keyhole Hot Springs(aka Pebble Creek Hot Springs) is located 100 kilometres from Whistler Village.  Though most of the 100 kilometres is on logging roads, it is drivable by most cars without significant trouble.  The big Innergex hydroelectric project has taken over much of the area, turning a once quiet wilderness into a war-zone.  On the plus side, the old logging roads near Keyhole Hot Springs are now well maintained and smooth.  2014 saw the permanent closing of the old hot springs trail and a new trail built.  Another benefit of the construction is the year-round maintenance of the access road which allows access to the springs even in the winter. 

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The spectacular Keyhole Falls is located just a couple kilometres upriver from the hot springs and very close to ground zero of the Innergex mammoth construction effort.  If you are brave enough to drive to the Keyhole Falls trail, just continue driving past the Lillooet River Trail. You will see a large, unmarked parking area and hard to find trail just before the km 50.  If you have doubts that you are parking in the right spot, just get out of your vehicle and listen for a moment.  The deep rumbling of Keyhole Falls can be faintly heard from where you park.

Climb the gravel embankment(don't cross the vehicle bridge) and look for the faint trail, then follow the faint rumbling from the falls as it soon becomes a thundering echo far below.  The trail is just a couple hundred metres long from the parking area.  The reason you have to be brave to get to Keyhole Falls is because of the colossal war zone you have to drive through to get to it.  It is a bit daunting, however, access to the area is still allowed.  You just have to be very aware of being considerate to the massive construction vehicles scrambling to get the job done.  There are large signs indicated where you cannot go, which makes navigating to the falls more manageable.

Back at the Lillooet River Trail, you will find a trailhead parking area, a small sign and permanent outhouse.  A new sign now marks the start of the route to Keyhole Hot Springs.  This new trail is 2 kilometres long and moderately challenging as it skirts the rugged terrain along the Upper Lillooet River.  A couple of sections are very steep, and it is easy to stray from the trail.  Along the trail there are at least two fantastic and inviting areas along the trail (beside the river) perfect for camping.  Closer to Keyhole Hot Springs, the very nice camping area high up, overlooking the river is still as it has always been.  Nice, rustic, wild and of course, unmaintained.

The new Lillooet River Trail is well marked with flagging tape and tree reflectors as well as the occasional bench to sit on.  Just like the old trail, this new trail is often challenging to navigate.  Though it is rarely steep, as the old trail mostly is, this one is a zig-zag through a thick forest and occasional scramble through truck sized boulders.  The trail, at a moderate pace should take about a half an hour from your car to the springs.  If you have any interest in geology, however, the trail may take you hours.  The crumbing cliffs reveal an astounding array of recent volcanic activity and you find yourself staring in amazement at the extraordinarily beautiful rocks.

The hot springs at Keyhole flow out of the ground adjacent to the swirling, crashing and wonderfully glacier coloured water of the Lillooet River.  The colour varies with the season, but for the most part it is a wonderful, deep, milky turquoise.  When the sunlight penetrates the deep valley, the milky turquoise changes to an unnaturally bizarre, emerald green colour as it swirls all around you.

Sitting in the springs you look across to the vertical rock face and the massive, truck sized chunks of it that lay in the river next to you.  The Lillooet is fed from various glaciers and snowy mountains visible all the way to Pemberton.  At the Lillooet River crossing in Pemberton Meadows take a look in the distance and you will make out the spectacularly jagged and violent looking peak of Mount Meager.  It is also a good place to reflect on the fact that Mount Meager produced the larges volcanic eruption in Canada, in the last ten thousand years.  It occurred about 2400 years ago and Keyhole and Meager Creek Hot Springs are symptoms of current volcanic activity and another major eruption is possible.

For such a remote place, the Keyhole Hot Springs have a pretty elaborate hot springs layout as well as a very large(unmaintained) camping area in the deep forest, high above the hot springs about a 10 minute walk away.  Signs of semi-permanent tarp dwellings can be seen in stages of ruin, but overall the campsite area is amazing.  With the exception of being dark due to the thick forest and fresh water a steep, 5 minute walk away, it is perched on a wonderful cliff with great views of the river below and cliff and mountains and waterfalls across.  If the campsite had a dozen tents within it, you could space them out enough to not see or hear each other fairly easily.

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