Well the Ch-ihl-kway-uhk like to point out that the Elk Mtn Trail is at present not an "officially recognized" trail, and therefore is not enjoy any sort of protected status.
It turns out that this trail for a long period of time did indeed have such recognition, but, according to Mike Peters who is the Chilliwack District Recreational Officer of the Ministry of Tourism Sports and the Arts (MOTSA), somehow this trail was somehow inadvertantly removed from it's official status.
A minor technicality, as the trail is well known and used, and still appears on many government maps, and even also appears on the Chi-ihl-kway-uhk's woodlot map.
In fact, this trail has had a bit of history with the government, and government (that is, YOUR money) has been invested in it's maintenance and upkeep.
Here's a bit of history:
Here's an article dated June 1977 from the Chilliwack Progress about the Elk Mountain Trail:
Government Chronology
1987
Monochrome printed maps, of local trails at 1:20,000 scale, available from the local Ministry of Forests office. One of these maps was produced for the Elk-Thurston Trail.
1992 November
Chilliwack Forest District Recreation map at a scale of 1:250,000 produced & made available at no charge to the public. The Elk-Thurston Trail is shown on the map and a description of the hike is given.
1996 September
Ministry of Forests paid Trailtec Consulting to do an repair survey of the Elk-Thurston Trail.
1997 March
An updated version of the 1992 map is published. The Elk-Thurston Trail is listed again.
1999 October
Monochrome printed maps at 1:85,000 scale available at no charge from the local Ministry of Forests office. Map H101 Chilliwack Valley shows the Elk-Thurston Trail.
2001 March
Chilliwack Forest District Trail Inventory produced by Terrapro:( the GPS surveying & mapping company) under contract to the Provincial Government. A CD was produced with the details of their survey of fifteen trails. The Elk-Thurston Trail was one of these.
2002 June
Monochrome maps at 1:85,000 scale available from the Ministy of Forests website. Map H101 Chilliwack Valley shows the Elk-Thurston Trail.
2002 November
The Ministry of Forests issued a Request for Proposals to manage recreation sites and trails. The Elk-Thurston Trail was one of these.
2003 March
The Ministry of Forests document "VANCOUVER FOREST REGION RECREATION PROJECT ESTABLISHMENTS Updated June 17, 2002 Revised March 2003 " lists the Elk- Thurston Trail as file number 900-0358. Strangely, although trails in all the other districts in the region have dates of establishment: not one Chilliwack trail has an establishment date.
2003 May
Maps (in colour) at 1:85,000 scale available as pdf files from the Ministry of Forests website. Map H101 Chilliwack Valley shows the Elk-Thurston Trail. (an updated version of the 1999 October maps): an update of the 2002 June maps.
2003 November
Digital data (FTN_REC_LN.shp): downloadable from the BC Government's Land and Resource Data Warehouse shows the Elk-Thurston Trail.
Some other links and photos:
List of trails recognized by the Ministry of Forests (including Elk mtn)
Elk Mtn Trail on the MOTSA basemap database:
On a recreational map published in 1984 by the Outdoor Recreation Council of British Columbia:
Trail map distributed by the Ministry of Forests, dated 1997:
