Big wall climbing arrived in the Eldred Valley in 1988, when Rob Richards and his brother Casey put up a route on Psyche Slab. In 1993, Richards and Colin Dionne climbed the West Main Wall, establishing Mainline. Then came Carag Dur and Amon Rûdh. In 2014, the West Main Buttress finally saw its first route.

The Eldred has matured as a climbing destination over the years as route development accelerates and a growing climbing community is now anchored through the winter at the Powell River climbing gym.

Logging blocks have threatened old-growth forests surrounding Amon Rûdh. It was postponed in early spring of 2018 for two years due to public pressure. The future of the valley with its remaining Old Growth and Second Growth harvesting need to be looked at more carefully.

The Colin Arthur Dionne Memorial Climbers Camp

Colin and Christie Dionne began building what was then known as Lothlorian in the summer of 1999. Their vision was to build a climbers campground that would grow naturally with the number of climbers coming to the Eldred Valley. 

 Protecting the Campground land from industry was Colin's main focus and through working with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resorces and the Climbers Access Society of BC, Lothlorian became a designated forest service recreation site in 2012. 

Hiking

There are several alpine hikes that are accessed through the Eldred Valley. A800 and B-Branch for Emma Lake, D Branch for Centre Lakes, Amon Rûdh, Mt. Alfred and the North and South Powell Divide. As recreational traffic increases, planning for future uses of these trails and infrastructure need to be addressed. Currently under the guidance of the Knucklehead Winter Recreation, planning will include how to build for traffic, signage, outhouses, and mechanized vs non-mechanized zones.