British Columbia · Natural setting
Keyhole Hot Springs
Also recorded as Pebble Creek, Keyhole is a thermal site in the upper Lillooet River landscape. Small pools and a mountain-river setting have made it widely photographed, but older descriptions of seasonal visits do not establish current access.
Historical source coordinate; not a trailhead. Accuracy and datum have not been independently verified. Historical water readings describe source samples, not safe soaking temperatures.
Closed indefinitely, and enforced
The Pebble Creek / Keyhole Falls hot springs trail is closed indefinitely because of food-conditioned and aggressive bears in the hot springs area. The closure followed a series of encounters including a confirmed bear charge, with animals drawn in by human food and garbage left at the pools.
This one is actively policed. Natural resource officers and conservation officers enforce the closure and issue violation tickets, with a fine of $115 for use of the recreation area. The trail was closed specifically so that bears do not permanently associate the springs with food.
A separate seasonal closure as well
On top of the indefinite closure, the area carries a seasonal closure from 1 April to 15 November to protect the grizzly population that uses the valley. So even in a hypothetical reopening, most of the usable year would still be closed.
The trailhead sits at roughly the 42 km mark of the Upper Lillooet Forest Service Road, northwest of Pemberton — the same road system affected by the Meager Creek closures further on.
Also recorded as Pebble Creek
The site appears in guides and trip reports under both Keyhole and Pebble Creek, which makes older material easy to misread as current. A great deal of what circulates online describing an open, drivable soak predates the closures entirely.
If it ever reopens, that will be announced through the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and provincial recreation notices rather than on travel blogs.
Opening hours & season
Closed until further notice
Do not interpret old seasonal dates as current permission to enter.
All times are local to the spring. Checked 2026-10-01; this is not a live opening-status display. Closure notices override regular hours.
Our take
Photogenic and well known, yet a clear example of why a guide must prioritize current land-manager notices over social-media popularity. It is not a recommended visit while closed.
Editorial assessment based on published information. No firsthand visit or customer score is implied.
Before you go
Sources & record notes
Geoscience BC’s 2016 compilation · 7 historical sampling records · Source name: Pebble Creek. References recorded in the dataset: N.S-B.G 1974; Souther 1976; Hammerstrom 1977; C. Hickson kind permission.
Source notes: 07; 08; 12; 13; 2012 Sample
Sources used for this guide
- SLRD — Keyhole Hotsprings access trail closed (wildlife notice)
- CBC News — hot springs closed over food-habituated bears
- CBC News — aggressive bears force closure of Pebble Creek/Keyhole Falls trail
Written from the published sources above. Operator hours, access rules and closures change; the official link is authoritative.