Raft Mountain is a mountain in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located north-east of

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

and just outside the south boundary of

Wells Gray Provincial Park Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres (524,990 hectares or ...

. The Clearwater River flows to the west,

Raft River The Raft River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 4, 2011 tributary of the Snake River located in northern Utah and southern Idaho in the United States. It is part ...

to the east,

Spahats Creek Spahats Creek Falls, also called Spahats Falls, is a waterfall on Spahats Creek within Wells Gray Provincial Park of British Columbia, Canada. Common references place the falls at around tall, but taking into account the second tier, it is close ...

to the north, and

North Thompson River The North Thompson River is the northern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the toe of the Thompson Glacier in the Premier Range of the Cariboo Mou ...

to the south. Raft Mountain is part of the

Shuswap Highland The Shuswap Highland is a plateau-like hilly area of in British Columbia, Canada. It spans the upland area between the Bonaparte and Thompson Plateaus from the area of Mahood Lake, at the southeast corner of the Cariboo Plateau, southeast towards ...

. There are five summits in the group and the highest is .

Trophy Mountain Trophy Mountain (locally called Trophy Mountains or The Trophies) is a mountain in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located in the south-east region of Wells Gray Provincial Park. The Clearwater River flows to the west, Raft River to the eas ...

is the closest summit to the north. Neave, Roland (2023). ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'', 7th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. .

Access

The Raft West and Raft Peak Forest Service Roads provide access to the south side of the mountain. Check in advance for logging activity. Some sections of this road require four-wheel drive and high clearance. It is nearly to the end of the road at . A hike of about 2.5 hours goes up the meadows to the west ridge, then to the summit. An all-day hike crosses the five summits. The north face of Raft Mountain can be reached via Spahats Creek Road which turns east off Clearwater Valley Road (also called Wells Gray Park Road). Good clearance but four-wheel drive is not needed. Watch for the sign "Cirque of Tarns Trail" at the pass. A rough trail leads into Caligata Lake Provincial Park below the north face. A hiking and scrambling route goes from the lake into the Cirque of Tarns and up to Raft's east ridge and third summit. Road and hiking directions for both routes are essential and can be found in ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'' (7th edition). Groomed cross-country ski trails are located on the lower slopes of Raft Mountain and are maintained by the Wells Gray Outdoors Club. A network of snowmobile trails on Raft Mountain is maintained by the Clearwater Sno-Drifters Club. The group also operates two warming huts near treeline.

Naming

The Overlanders expedition to the Cariboo goldfields rafted down the

in 1862. When they arrived at the mouth of the Clearwater River, they noticed this prominent peak and named it for their rafts. They also named the Clearwater River for its distinct clarity compared to the muddy North Thompson and the nearby Raft River.

References

{{reflist
BCGNIS entry "Raft Mountain"
Two-thousanders of British Columbia Wells Gray-Clearwater Kamloops Division Yale Land District