Blue Mountain Forests land owner, Münter noted that in Germany, privately-owned forest lands are accessible for public recreation — and in return, the land-owners pay much lower taxes than the taxes paid in Canada on similar parcels.  In Canada, private land-owners are under no obligation to allow public use of their property.

Most people appreciate the sharing of private and public lands for recreational trails, but most locals tend to take it for granted; many people are not even aware that much of the land they are hiking, biking and hunting on is privately owned, and that our use of so many trails on so much private land is a rare privilege.  

The Creston Valley Rod and Gun Club negotiated agreements with property owners, allowing  our members access to cross private lands and covering issues including insurance coverage, liability, and the type of use allowed (most of which is only non-motorized use permitted by the landowners). 

If people abused the privilege conferred by these hard-won agreements, any landowner could cancel an agreement and close off all access to their property. As a result of our agreement, the public wishing to use these private land parcels for recreation must be a member of the Creston Valley Rod and Gun Club for insurance and liability purposes.  The member must read and sign a waiver each year which will be kept on file for seven years.  Members must display the access pass in a visible location or have it on their person when accessing Blue Mountain Forest property.  All properties included are shown on the maps below.

Access cards will be available at our monthly meetings on the first Monday of the Month

DESIGNATED CVRG MEMBERS whom you can contact to sign the waiver:

Thomas Wayling  250-254-0078 or

Wynndel Store and Mawson’s

**To prevent these properties from being placed off-limits, all members must encourage the respectful use of these lands and follow the owners’ wishes.