Chris N. at Raven Bluffs:
“Raven Bluffs Trail is on the SW flank of Nicomen Mt near Dewdney in the Fraser Valley. Being south and west facing and at a low elevation, it makes a good early season warm-up hike. The trail directions I have found for it aren’t very good though. Firstly, instead of parking outside the Inch Creek Fish Hatchery, I would suggest driving across the railway tracks on Hawkins Pickle Rd and park at the yellow gate on the south side of the tracks and 100 m short of Norrish Creek. This eliminates 2 acts of trespass but you still have to cross the railway tracks after crossing to the east side of the road bridge on foot. The route you want is marked by infrequent red and white diamond reflectors. Walk north about 850 m along the edge of the river and around a marsh ignoring branches to the left. At a small pile of rocks, take a right fork and gain a small bench. At the foot of a steep slope, there is another fork at another pile of rocks. Again, go right and start climbing a relatively steep trail. You will pass a few bluffs – 1, 2 and 4 are signed. 1 is viewless, 2 is on a steep slope, 3 is large, 4 is small and easily missed. At 320 m, you will encounter a fork (the left branch may be obscured a bit). If you do the loop, this is where you return. Continue right another 200 m for a large, un-numbered viewpoint (bluff 5). After this point, the trail becomes a bit more difficult to follow due to downed trees and branches. The trail soon becomes an old overgrown road. After a few hundred metres, you will come to a fork – take the left road. More road walking takes you to another junction. Take the left branch and climb slowly. Ignore a right branch and the road eventually ends at the final viewpoint (also used as a launch point for paragliders). The trail continues on the left side of the viewpoint and descends steeply. This quickly returns you to the 320-m fork. The road portion of the trail is largely wet, obstacled and viewless. A better variant would be to go to bluff 5 and then return to the 320-m fork and use that to access the paragliding launch bluff.”