Provincial Parks
Hunlen Falls - Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, BC | Kari MedigExplore the Provincial Parks of the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail, Land of Hidden Waters, and Great Bear Rainforest and discover a variety of touring and camping options for your visit.
Provincial Parks of the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail
Bowron Lake Provincial Park
A large wilderness area located on the western slopes of the Cariboo Mountain Range, the Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit encompasses 116 km for a wilderness canoe trip that takes 6-10 to finish, or the west side can offer a shorter, 2-4 day timeline. Campers are welcome, as are hikers, anglers, and bikers. The area is also popular in the winter for ice skating, ice fishing and other activities.
Lac La Hache Provincial Park
One of the most popular recreation lakes along Highway 97, set amongst a Douglas-fir forest, with a pleasant campground for longer stays. An excellent place to fish, boat, and water ski, or explore hiking trails, swim, and bike while you are here. Visit the 108 Mile Heritage House just 30 minutes down the road from May to September while you are in the area, or stop in the community of Lac La Hache for amenities and additional activities.
Marble Range Provincial Park
Marble Range Park is named for its unusual limestone topography, with mountains featuring caves, sinkholes and disappearing streams, cliffs, chasms, and crenellated ridges. Home to populations of California bighorn sheep and mule deer, the park is popular for hiking, hunting, and horseback riding.
More Provincial Parks of the Cariboo Gold Rush Trail
Provincial Parks of the Land of Hidden Waters
Canim Beach Provincial Park
As one of the larger lakes in the Cariboo, Canim Lake is popular for fishing, paddling, swimming, picnicking and water skiing. The area surrounding Canim Beach Provincial Park includes Canim Falls at the east end of the lake in Wells Gray Provincial Park, and picturesque views of the mountains.
Green Lake Provincial Park
Green Lake is one of the larger bodies of water in the southern Cariboo at 14 km long with a shoreline of approximately 57 km. The greenish hue is derived from the low flushing rate combined with the chemical composition of the warm shallow waters. The park is made up of 11 sites and features a typical Cariboo landscape of open rangeland and mixed forests of aspen and lodgepole pine, making the park popular for hiking, horseback riding and exploring by water.
Bridge Lake Provincial Park
Bridge Lake Provincial Park is located about 50km east of 100 Mile House. It offers camping at a small campground on the south end the lake near the community of Bridge Lake, numerous hiking trails, wildlife viewing and horseback riding trails, as well as canoeing, swimming, and boating. The park is a habitat for bear, fox, coyote, mule deer, mink and river otter, while the lake offers fishing for rainbow trout, kokanee, lake char and burbot. Image Credit: Accessible BC
More Provincial Parks in the Land of Hidden Waters:
Provincial Parks of the Chilcotin
South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park
A visually spectacular area with incredible topography, featuring mid elevation grasslands, sub alpine and alpine meadows, alpine lakes and mountains. The park encompasses several large intact watersheds and headwaters and offers broad valleys and ridges with interconnecting trail systems. Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers can explore over 200 km of trails of varying difficulty with a range of looping routes for an enjoyable wilderness experience.
Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park
Located in the West Chilcotin Uplands, Itcha Ilgachuz Provincial Park offers a diverse landscape containing volcanic landforms, alpine, and forest sites scattered with wetlands. It is home to the largest herd of woodland caribou in southern BC and features a high diversity of plant and animal species set in the rain shadow of the coast mountains. The isolated shield volcanoes of the Itcha Range and Ilgachuz Range rise up to 2400 metres above sea level in the park, and the area is popular for hiking, fishing, biking, horseback riding, and winter activities. Image Credit: BC Parks
Ts’ilʔos Provincial Park
Ts’ilʔos (pronounced “sigh-loss”) Provincial Park features rugged mountains, clear lakes, glaciers, alpine meadows, and waterfalls, surrounded by the rugged Coast Mountains to the west, and the arid Interior Plateau to the east for a diverse and contrasting landscape. Dominated by the largest, natural high-elevation freshwater lake in Canada, Chilko Lake, water activities are a favourite activity, as well as backcountry hiking and camping. Note that areas of the park can be close due to increased bear activity, check the BC Parks website to confirm before travelling.
More Provincial Parks in the Chilcotin:
Provincial Parks of the Great Bear Rainforest
Hakai Lúxvbálís Conservancy
The Hakai Lúxvbálís Conservancy is managed under an agreement between the Heiltsuk Nation and the Province of BC. Encompassing more than 120,000 hectares of land and sea, it is is the largest provincial marine protected area on the British Columbia coast, with no developed facilities. The Conservancy can only be accessed by sea or air, Hakai boasts natural beauty including lagoons, tidal rapids, tombolos, white-sand beaches and an array of large and small islands for exploration.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Marine Park
A small coastal park on Dean Channel near Elcho Harbour , featuring where Alexander Mackenzie during his explorations wrote on a rock: “Alex Mackenzie from Canada by land 22nd July 1793.” Today the rock still bears his words. The park is often an end point for backcountry hikers exploring the Nuxalk-Carrier Grease/Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail. The last portion of the park is accessible only by boat during good weather as sheltered anchorage is limited.
Tweedsmuir Provincial Park (South)
One of BC’s largest parks, featuring some of the most spectacular scenery in the continent, Tweedsmuir attracts anglers, campers, hikers, and explorers by horseback or canoe (the Turner Lake Chain is a popular route) and winter recreation, while the park’s shield volcanoes and Hunlen Falls are not to be missed. The area is a critical bear habitat so visitors should be prepared for potential encounters and be bear aware.