Bike-Packing into Tombstone Backcountry Campground in Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park

Written By Kelsea Alba

A couple of days after getting hitched in the summer of 2019, my husband and I took the Elbow Lake trail up to Piper’s Pass in a 20-kilometre out-and-back trail run. I remember being blown away by the scenery in that valley. I also remember making a mental note that the trail was bike-friendly and led to backcountry campgrounds. Fast-forward to this summer: Tombstone campground was on my bucket list!

At a Glance:

We hit the road at 9:45 a.m. for the 1-hour drive to the trailhead. Once we arrived at the Elbow Lake parking lot, we fed the kids snacks while mounting their bike seats onto our mountain bikes and stuffing the last few essentials into our packs. At around 11:00 a.m., we were ready to go!

The first 1.4 kilometres lead to the stunning Elbow Lake, but it is all uphill. We hiked our bikes up the majority of that section and were pretty breathless by the time we arrived to the top. However, it only took about 30 minutes to do… And the views paid off instantly!

Once at Elbow Lake, we hopped onto our bikes and pedalled away. The trail is mostly flat the entire way to Tombstone backcountry campground, with a slight decline in the overall gradient. Some sections have lots of jagged rocks that I did not feel comfortable biking over with Eden in tow, so we cautiously walked them instead. Aside from that, it’s pretty cruisy!

We made lots of stops along the way for the children to explore creek crossings, meadows and cairns, while stretching their little legs.

By 1:00 p.m., we arrived at a bridge that crosses one of the tributaries of the Elbow River. We were only 100 metres away from the campground, and decided to make that our lunch stop. The kids stripped and played in the creek, while I assembled peanut butter tortilla wraps for us all. Eventually, the horse flies near the creek became a little too unbearable for us (reminder: bring bug spray!)… So we carried on towards the campground.

The Tombstone campground is BEAUTIFUL! It boasts a large cooking area (with food storage lockers, numerous picnic tables and a couple of fire pits), a gathering area (with two more fire pits surrounded by benches), a large stash of firewood, and two incredibly-clean pit/vault toilets. There are 11 tent pads scattered throughout the campsite; Some of them back onto a tiny gully with a creek running through it, which fostered lots of imaginary play for our three-year-old while we set up our tent.

At around 3:00 p.m., we had all our gear organized in the tent, our food stored in the food lockers, and our snacks packed for the hike up to Tombstone Lakes… So we hit the >2-kilometre trail.

The trail starts off fairly steep, but flattens out about halfway in. The brain of my Osprey backpack converts to a daypack (which is my favourite feature about it!), so I attached the Trail Magik carrier to it in order to let Eden take a much-needed catnap. Indy fluctuated back-and-forth between hiking and getting a lift on Chris’ shoulders.

An hour later (toddler pace!), we arrived at Lower Tombstone Lake. I was blown away! Perhaps it was due to the time of day, but we had the lake completely to ourselves. With the sun starting to set and casting that “golden hour” lighting all around us, the lake looked splendid and inviting. We dipped in and enjoyed our snacks on the lakeshore, while taking in the majestic views around us. You could so clearly see fish swimming and popping up to the surface everywhere; No wonder it’s a popular fishing destination! It was truly magical.

Another hour went by, and the sun was beginning to dip behind Tombstone Mountain, so we made our exit. We hiked back down to the campground to have a campfire and eat dinner.

By 8:30 p.m. both kids were asleep in the tent. I went for a little stroll around the campground to enjoy the peace and quiet, just as the moon was beginning to rise in the distance. There’s something about the rugged peaks and the open valley bottoms that make this campground feel so remote and unique.

The next morning, we were up by 7:00 a.m. The campground was quiet with other campers still catching zzz’s, so we replaced our sleeping bags for our down-filled clothing, and headed towards the cooking area located on the edge of the campground. We enjoyed our breakfast and coffees while the sun began to peak through, warming us up instantly. The meadow turned golden, and the kids were having a lovely time frolicking around it. Once other campers started getting up, we cleared our table and headed back towards our tent to start packing up.

Again, the kids got busy throwing sticks and pine cones into the little creek behind our tent pad, so I played with them there, while Chris disassembled the tent and got us organized.

By 10:00 a.m., we had everything loaded back into our packs and were ready to roll out. The bike ride back was breezy! I knew the way was on a slight decline, so I was feeling a little nervous about the small, but constant incline on the way out. However, it felt very do-able.

A little over an hour later, we arrived back at Elbow Lake and stopped to play and grab a bite to eat. Like Lower Tombstone Lake, this was another ideal place to go for a swim since there’s a quick drop-off a little past the shoreline. Both Chris and I dipped in, while the kids ate lunch. Then, we all played along the mossy shoreline, inspecting snails, throwing rocks and balancing on logs.

At around 12:15, we got back on our bikes and headed down to the parking lot. Oh, was it ever fun to rip down the hill that we had slogged up the day before! It took us a mere 10 minutes and we were back where we started.

Back at the car, Indy and Eden shared a hug (completely unprompted) that almost brought me to tears. I feel as though every time we share experiences like these as a family, I can see their relationship strengthening before my eyes. They look after, check in with and joke with each other way more than they do elsewhere. It certainly builds camaraderie, which makes all the hard work completely worthwhile in our eyes.

Kelsea Alba
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