This hike begins with easy grades on an old road that leads up Swift Current Creek Valley, entering Mount Robson Park about 2 kilometers from the starting point. The area is described here because it does not appear in Mount Robson Park's hiking route information. This part of the park is considered wilderness.

Not far inside the park a bridge crosses a stream that went on a rampage a few years ago, washing out the bridge and depositing several logs and piles of debris on the trail. With caution, the creek can be crossed on fallen trees. Maintenance may vary beyond this point! The old road suddenly disappears at the start of a long stretch of open gravel flats. From here one may wander the alluvial plain at will.

If you wish to explore upstream along the gravel flats, keep mainly to the left side of the main creek (facing upstream) until a beaver pond at the base of an avalanche slope forces you to cross the stream twice - once below the pond, and then back to the left side above it. There are no bridges - use caution when wading, and be aware that this stream comes partially from a large glacier which can melt vigorously on hot summer days, causing increased flow in the creek in late afternoon and evening.

Beyond the beaver pond, the old road can be found on the gravel flats and is a good hiking route for some distance. Nestled between the east branch of the creek and a rocky cliff at the very end of the gravel flats is a small cabin built originally by former residents of the area, and now maintained by BC Parks and YORA. The cabin is open for public use - first come, first served. Please treat it and its surroundings with respect. It is suggested that you advise Mount Robson Park headquarters if you are planning to do some extended hiking in the area or stay in the cabin. When last checked, the creek had moved adjacent to a small rock face just downstream of the cabin, blocking access along the bank. To access the cabin, go behind and partly over this rock.

For the more adventurous, there are more gravel flats and a spectacular headwall further up the valley beyond the cabin. To get there, it is best to cross the creek either in the gravel flats or via a tree that spans a narrow chute above the cabin, and proceed up the east side. Two sizeable ridges of Quartzite project out into the valley right to the stream bank and must be climbed over. Proceed upstream through increasingly open streamside areas to the headwall where the creek cascades down from high above.

It is also possible to reach the headwall area by bushwhacking directly up the mountain behind the cabin, then heading left along the subalpine slopes near timberline where a ridge of quartzite rock and a talus-filled gully cut across the face of the mountain. Continue left, traversing above the west fork of Swift Current Creek, until a small alpine valley is noticed leading up on your right. Follow this valley up to a pass leading to the east fork of the creek (a topographical map at 1:50,000 scale is of great assistance on hikes like this - if you are experienced at reading these). Cross this pass and descend the avalanche tracks and streamcourses below. This stream joins the east fork of Swift Current Creek at the foot of the headwall.

Please note that it is not advisable to attempt to return to the cabin along the west side of the creek (the right side facing downstream). Steep cliffs drop straight into fast water at some points along the west side, which you will discover too late to avoid a great deal of back-tracking to find a safe crossing place to the east bank. Experienced mountaineers have traversed the cliffs on the west bank in good weather, but these cliffs have wet, slippery areas that rise directly out of tumultuous white water and extend from creek level to more than a thousand feet above.

It is possible to visit the toe of the glacier and a small lake on top of the headwall if water levels are not extremely high. Cross the creek at the foot of the headwall, and ascend a lightly timbered slope on the left side of the headwall. At the level of the top of the headwall, it is possible to hike back over to the creek, glacier & lake. At this writing the glacier is melting at a very rapid rate and you may find that it has retreated far up the valley beyond the lake on top of the headwall.

Follow highway 5 north from Valemount to Tete Jaune Junction, then continue on Highway 16 east to Swift Current Creek, the first bridge in highway 16 east of the junction at Tete Jaune. Just before the bridge, take Swift Current Creek Road to the left. Continue up the road, entering an area of young trees. This is the former site of a sawmill operated by P.B. Abernathy, a well-known early resident. Park at the trailhead sign and obey any other signs that may be present.

To the cabin & back should take a good hiker about 8 hours depending on the difficulty of stream crossings. Hiking to the headwall and back would make for a very long day, by either the high pass route or the east bank route. I made a day trip from the highway to the Swift Current headwall & back by mountain-biking to the cabin, hiking the high pass route to the headwall, returning to the cabin by the east bank route and then biking back to my vehicle. This took over 13 hours and included a rather interesting night ride down the gravel flats by moonlight and headlamp.

It might be advisable to stay overnight at the cabin and start out for the headwall from the cabin in the morning. And if you plan to climb to the glacier above the headwall it might be a good idea to spend a second night at the cabin on the way out, and hike out on day 3.