Coppery Creek is a small, steep tributary of Dewar Creek in the upper St. Mary River system, its confluence tucked between the West Fork St. Mary and Dewar Creek roads. Provincial fish-inventory data records only two direct observations here, both westslope cutthroat trout, and no legal public access point has been confirmed. Read it as wilderness context on the edge of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy rather than a planned day out.
The water
NRCan's Geographical Names database lists Coppery Creek as an official Kootenay Land District name at 49.798611, -116.438056. It runs stream order 3 (low on the network, on a scale that runs from 1 for a headwater trickle up to 6 or more for a full river), stretches roughly 5 km, and drains into Dewar Creek, which in turn joins the St. Mary River. Wildsight's comments on the Retallack logging proposal group Coppery with Calamity and Office creeks as de facto wilderness bordering the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy, and a separate Wildsight report notes proposed logging aimed at the Westfork, Dewar and White Creek drainages while describing the upper St. Mary as comparatively intact.
The fishing
The two confirmed cutthroat records are presence signal only, not proof of a fishable or resilient population, and they say nothing about access. The channel geometry (median width ~3.6 m, narrow; gradient ~10.95%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.221 m³/s, very low flow) reads as small, technical pocket water, more scouting creek than day-trip target. If a fishable reach is ever confirmed, start with the small-stream food base used across the upper St. Mary: small stoneflies, Mayflies, Caddisflies (Sedges), midges and summer Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles), fished with small-stream dry-fly tactics.
A map note, not a plan
Conditions
- Navigability: wade and technical, steep gradient and small pocket water (median width ~3.6 m, narrow; gradient ~10.95%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.221 m³/s, very low flow), consistent with a small, non-destination side drainage.
- Stocking: no stocking record. So far as the two confirmed records show, Coppery Creek runs entirely on wild fish.
Access and the rules
No named trailhead, parking area or put-in has been confirmed for Coppery Creek. BC Parks describes the gravel road corridor along the St. Mary River and Dewar Creek, the same general system, as remote, used by industrial logging traffic, and the route into the wider Purcell Wilderness Conservancy backcountry. Treat any approach to Coppery as backcountry travel rather than roadside fishing until a specific access point is confirmed.
