North Hurst Creek is a small, steep headwater tributary of Hurst Creek in the Forster Creek system, running through Purcell Range backcountry west of Radium Hot Springs. No fish survey has logged a direct record on North Hurst itself; westslope cutthroat, Bull Trout, rainbow trout and Brook Trout are inferred from the wider Frances and Forster network rather than confirmed on this specific creek.
The water
North Hurst sits at 50.71782, -116.34783, running stream order 5 (mid-to-high on a scale from 1 for a headwater trickle to 6 or more for a full river) above Hurst Creek, which drains into Frances Creek, then Forster Creek and the Columbia River. Akenside Creek enters Frances from the neighbouring alpine-lake plateau, part of the same upper drainage. The regional fish habitat survey that covers this ground flagged reach 2 of North Hurst for resampling: dry, low-flow conditions when the crew passed through limited how confidently they could rule fish in or out, so an empty record here reflects thin survey coverage as much as an empty creek. Fish moving up from the Columbia are blocked well downstream by a cascade and a roughly 3 m falls in lower Forster Creek, so anything living this high in the system would be a resident or lake-connected population rather than a mainstem migrant.
The fishing
With no direct fish records and the one survey reach flagged as inconclusive, North Hurst reads as a scouting and habitat-context water rather than a confirmed destination. If cutthroat, bull trout, rainbow or brook trout are present, expect them holding in whatever perennial pools and cooler pockets survive the summer low-flow period rather than spread continuously through the creek.
The same cold mountain-creek hatches cover this corner of the Forster and Frances system: Stoneflies, Caddisflies (Sedges), Mayflies and summer Terrestrials (Hoppers, Ants, Beetles). Fish the standard alpine attractor box if you find holding water: a Stimulator or Royal Wulff on top, backed by an Adams, Elk Hair Caddis, Hare's Ear and Pheasant Tail beneath.
A scouting water, not a sure thing
Conditions
- Navigability: narrow, steep wade water (median width ~2.0 m, narrow; median gradient ~9.05%, steep; peak mean-annual discharge ~0.278 m³/s, very low flow), steeper and narrower than the gentler profile downstream on Hurst Creek.
- Stocking: no stocking record. Any fish present here would be wild.
Access and the rules
Backcountry access runs from Westside Main, crossing Frances Creek and continuing past the Hurst Creek confluence on tertiary logging roads toward North Hurst. Road condition through this network is variable, and no named trailhead or parking area is confirmed. Treat this as a backroad scouting trip, not a roadside fishery.
