Joffre Lakes Trail

Length: 3.6 km
Condition: Smooth at start, rough in rockslide above first lake.
General Route: Goes from Duffey Lake road, past the three Joffre Lakes to the Matier Glacier Icefall. Distances are 0.5km to the lower lake, 4km to the middle lake and 5.5km to the campground at Upper Joffre Lake.
How to Find: Trailhead is located at SE end of the Joffre Lake Parking Lot
Trail Description: From the parking lot, the obvious trail leads five kilometers up Joffre Creek past three beautiful alpine lakes (Lower, Middle, and Upper Joffre Lakes). At Upper Joffre Lake, the trail forks, with the right branch continuing south up the valley towards Mount Taylor and Tszil Mountain. The left branch ends shortly at an undeveloped campground on the shores of Upper Joffre Lake with the dramatic Matier Glacier icefall high above.

This trail provides the easiest approach for Mount Taylor, Tszil Mountain, Slalok Mountain (N Face and W Ridge). Cerise Creek is the other approach for the Matier Glacier and is usually preferred in winter. 

For Mountaineers Only:

To reach the Matier Glacier, traverse quickly under the icefall to the east side. A series of broken slabs make for an easy (even easy when wet) class 2 ascent up towards the glacier. From high up on the slabs, traverse right on snowslopes towards a corridor between the icefall on the right and a rock buttress on the left. When snow covered, this corridor gives easy access to the Matier Glacier. Hearsay has it that this section offers loose 3rd class scrambling once the snow melts (Kevin McLane, Alpine Select). An alternative is to ascend directly up over the rock buttress and down the other side to the glacier. Once above the Matier Icefall, it is an easy glacier walk up to the Matier-Joffre Col, or to the other peaks that border the icefield.