Locate the Recreation Site

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:53 pm

It seems like the Covid-19 has given me more time to review old trips and I've found some more Rec Sites worth passing on. As all of the Rec Sites are now closed to camping and quite a few are closed period this may be all I'll have for some time. Hopefully Kevin or Wayne or anyone with camping or fishing info can pass it on. I chose Cougar Lake for this month. It is a small lake located on the Bowers Lake FSR. It is approximately 104 km via Little Fort or 52 km from Clearwater. The Little Fort route is mostly pavement while the Clearwater route is all a busy FSR. The site has a total of 3 sites. One is located near the road while the other 2 are located down the hill beside the lake. The lake is warm enough to swim in in mid summer but also produces some nice trout. Although the Bowers Lake FSR is a major road, traffic is only sporadic and ends early in the afternoon. Hopefully by camping season all the sites will open and it will be business as usual. ( An optimist? )

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Mon May 11, 2020 7:38 pm

Well back to old trips. I stopped here a few years ago to check it out as I'd heard so many good fishing reports. With the Covid-19 continuing looking @ pictures will be it for a few weeks. I do get to go fishing this week and I've checked and most of the lakes up to 4500' are ice free. Anyway, Howard Lake is a very popular lake east of 100 Mile House. It has a large Rec Site with 32 sites spread along the north shore of the lake. The road to the site from the Canim Lake road is very steep initially but does flatten off. The climb isn't to difficult as the site is usually mostly occupied by large RV's that stay for much more then the 14 days allowed. The lake is a very good producer so if you can get one of the sites away from the crowd it can be a great fishing trip. If not, bring lots of booze and join the parties!! The site shown in the picture looks great -but it's right on the main road. Maybe July will show the results of a 2020 camping trip!

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Wed Jun 03, 2020 8:11 pm

Nellie Lake is a small forgotten Lake next to Shuswap Lake almost at the end of Seymour Arm. It is about 80 km. from Hwy. #1 where you cross the Squilax bridge at the east end of Little Shuswap lake. The lake is in a hollow and the camp site is likely 10 – 15 M above the lake. There are only 4 sites and 2 are very close together. The lake is surrounded by large cedar trees which makes it a great place for a hot summer day. The lake is very clear and you can see the fish along the edge. The boat launch is a bit unusual. It's easy to launch your boat – getting it out is a different matter. Hopefully next month the lake will be from a visit this year.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:38 pm

I finally get to report on a new to me Rec Site. This last week I spent 3 days @ Gwen lake. Gwen is located east of the Coquihalla using the Comstock exit south of Merritt. The lake is about 6.5 km from the highway with less than a km. to challenge your van. The road has a few water holes but the last decent into the site is quite washed out and requires a bit of thought as to the best path. It can't be that bad though as I talked to a guy who witnessed a mini van come an go during his stay @ the site. Despite the road, traffic was an everyday occurrence and I found quite a number of people from the lower mainland use it for day fishing. I also found out that a much easier route is available to a site @ the north end of the lake. It is not an official Rec Site but a number of people were camped there and @ least tables were provided. The route to that site is shown on the map starting @ the North site dot and following the green line. It starts about the 4.5 km marker.
Fishing was not great when I was there. The first day it rained most of the day and the second was very windy. The fish were a variety of sizes and large fish are in the lake.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Sun Aug 02, 2020 12:10 pm

This lake is not on my highly recommended list but may now be better than when I was there. Nevertouch Lake is located south of Hwy #6 on the Kettle Valley FSR or possibly Split Creek FSR for part of the way. The Kettle Valley route is about 60 km from the Hwy and the Split Creek Route is about 37. I used the Kettle valley route as I came from the south. Nevertouch Lake was pretty ugly when I stopped by in September of 2016. One side of the lake had been burned by a forest fire and the other side is dead beetle kill. It may look better now as a few years can add some greenery. The sites would be nice if they had trees. I didn't stay to fish as it was windy and started to snow. The lake is over 4000' so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. People were camped there but I'm sure they were hunting!
Nevertouch Lake has 15 sites so you should always be able to find a spot. Next month I'll have a trip from 2020 that had a real wilderness feel yet very easy access.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 8:13 pm

This post is for my first trip to East Maury Lake in late July. This lake is north and west of Clearwater about 70 km. It is very easy to find and the roads are in pretty good shape. I'm sure any van could make it. You could even take your Motorhome if you don't mind the dust. The lake is just past the junction of 20 Road and 9 Road. I don't think the site is used much for fishing as the paths down to the lake are a little overgrown and so is the boat launch. During the 4 days I was there I only heard 1 truck go by. East Maury is quite an interesting lake was lots of shallow areas as well as some areas of nearly 60'. The fish are not overly large usually in the 12-14” range but as they are all wild trout they can be difficult to get in the boat. The second last day I was there I found the “hot spot” and could regularly catch fish in the area. I even caught 2 @ the same time as noted in my pictures. This is a great place to go to get away from the crowds without gathering some BC pin-strips or spending hours in 4x4 Low to get to the fish!! Have you tried this one Kevin?

Post by **BCDelica** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 10:10 am

Thanks for keeping this active Larry!!

Did explore the Maury Lakes many a year ago, but we never fished it, and that was before the Delica days.

Still sticking to the Island this year, hiking most weekends and many a weekday!

Cheers, Tahsis north bound

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Side Bay-Port Alice-Lawn Point

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Upana Caves

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Short notice 3 nights at Cape Scott, first time in 20 plus years. A lot more popular then I remember

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Nootka Island, one of my favourite west coast hikes

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Comox Lake, our backyard

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Willemar Lake

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lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:39 am

It was nice to have Kevin's island post for a little variety. I hope the snow wasn't fresh but it sure looked that way....
My last trip of the year was to be to Skyline lake a small lake southeast of Vavenby about 15 km and if it didn't work out I would go to Graffunder Lake about 6 km further south on the same good FSR. It's always good to have a backup but this trip also required a Plan B. I arrived at Skyline in good time as the road was in very good condition and the short 1 km trail into the lake had only a few potholes which didn't need 4x4. The site was very tight as suggested by the Rec Site info and was also very shaded from the dense forest. That would be great in July but a little more open would be nice in late September. I would have stayed but a quick look @ the boat launch showed it would be nearly impossible to launch my boat as a tree is right in the middle of the space. Canoes or belly boats would be fine. The next choice was to go to Graffunder just down the road. This site only has 1 camp site and someone had placed a tent there several days before and left!! I don't think the tent had even been used as the inside was empty except for a few chunks of tree to hold it down and a big puddle @ one end. I had 2 choices – relocate their tent or leave. I felt it was likely done by hunters so I don't mess with guys with guns. I did however, get to talk to a couple from Vavenby who also came to camp. They gave me the lowdown on the lake which certainly makes me want to return next year.

Now it's time for Plan B. I looked @ the closest sites via the BRMB POI's for Rec sites on my GPS. The best option appeared to be the Coldscaur Lake area west of Clearwater about 70 km from where I was. Continued next month!!

(I didn't include a picture for the site signs as Skyline was a 4x4 post in the bushes and only the posts were left for the Graffunder sign.)

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 8:24 pm

I did a cursory report on Coldscaur Lake in February of 2018 using info from a pit stop I made in 2010. It was quick and incomplete so here is the upgrade. Coldscaur is a lake I've driven by a number of times on my way to other lakes west of Clearwater and beyond. It is one of those lakes you always think would be nice to check out as it has lots of sites @ the 3 different locations along the north side. Due to not being able to stay at Graffunder Lake I really had nowhere else to go any closer so this was my chance. I checked out all 3 sites starting with the east or as they say south site. It is basically 1 or 2 sites and is really used for dayfishers. The middle site has 4 to 6 sites depending on how many are in 1 party and is in a hollow with no view of the lake. The west or north site has several sites along the lake, all fairly large with 1 group on a side loop from the main road and several others right on the main road. The boat launch for this site is down the road a few hundred meters and could accommodate almost any boat. Coldscaur has to be one of the clearest lakes I've fished. The area I used to tie up my boat had several large sunken trees I thought were near the surface. They were down far enough I could leave my motor down and wasn't even close to touching . Quite a surprise!!
The few days I was there only one other group stayed 1 night but I was told it can usually be full most weekends. It is a good place to have a base camp to fish the numerous lakes close by. The main road can be busy with traffic during the day but usually is quite after 5 or 6 o'clock.
The fishing is another story. I tried most of the lake and only caught a few large minnows. I did talk to a lady that was there earlier in the week and she caught a 15” fish casting from the camp site next to where I was staying. Fact of fiction?
I have had to do the report as 2 posts to fit the 7 picture rule. The first set of pictures are for the South and Middle sites and the last group in the second post are for the North site.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Fri Nov 06, 2020 8:35 pm

The second series of pictures is for the North or west site only.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Mon Dec 07, 2020 9:42 pm

Darke lake is my last post for the year. It is a provincial park located about 25 km northwest of Summerland via a mostly paved road. It is referred to as a rustic site by the parks people and therefore has no fees and you can't reserve. The drive to site site is quite interesting starting with a dry Okanagan landscape, to hobby farms to real farms and then an 'off the grid' area. The park itself is really rustic. The sites are not defined, there are no tables or metal fire pits and I only saw 1 outhouse. It looks like some of the campers had lived there for quite a while based on the junk and 'improvements' left behind. I only spent an hour or so there so I didn't do any fishing but there was 1 group out on the lake. At this time of the year it is more like a big puddle as it is definitely used for irrigation. If going to visit the park I would go early in the year when it is a real lake and bring everything you would take to a totally rough camp in the middle of nowhere.
As this ends the year I would like to thank those who contributed to the post as well as those who read it once in a while. This was not one of the better years camping or fishing but it will be one we all remember. Take care over the holidays and hopefully by this time next year Covid-19 will be a distant memory.

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Wed Jan 06, 2021 5:49 pm

I have been doing a review over the holidays for possible sites to review this year. I have a total of 185 sites I could review and to date by my calculations I've done 88. I looked @ my pictures and other info on the sites and a maximum of 20 of the ones left may be worth doing. I also looked @ sites that are easy for me to get to as well as ones I might wish to go to this year. The choices are becoming more limited for new sites within a days drive. I already have a number I'd like to return to that I haven't had a chance in the last few years. I don't believe people would like me to start reviewing sites over again.

So --- I'd like to get some feed back whether I should proceed on the monthly basis I've been doing with older visits until new ones come along, wait for new ones as the summer comes or just forget the entire process as a post that's well past it's prime. The post started back in 2014 as a “guess the site” which didn't work to well and gradually morphed to what it is today. The Delica site and the active members have changed a lot since 2014 which makes me wonder if anyone actually goes to these remote Rec sites anymore. In all the trips I've made since I got my van in 2009 I have yet to see another Delica on an FSR.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Larry

Post by **BCDelica** » Mon Feb 01, 2021 4:09 pm

Cheers Larry,

Been waiting to see whom else replies, I, for one, enjoy your reports. Started fishing the region in the mid 80s and only stop on the last 4-5 years. It's great to see the current state of old fishing spots!!!

Pictured is Lake Helen Mackenzie yesterday

lrp374 · Post by **lrp374** » Sat May 22, 2021 9:12 pm

I thought I'd share my first camp out of the year just to show that the lucky people of the interior can still find lots of places to camp in our huge health region.
Lolo Lake is a small, deep lake west of Clearwater. It is only about 10 km from Clearwater and can be reached by any type of vehicle. I thought I'd have the lake to myself as the forecast wasn't to good and after all it was quite early in the season. I was WRONG. I was the only one camping but I had several visitors each a day starting off with 2 ladies in a BMW SUV. The visitors continued for the 3 days I was there and even though the fishing wasn't great I learned a lot about the lake and it's likely hood to be busy. I also checked out the fish in the spawning channel adjacent to the boat launch. I saw several fish in the 15” plus range. It seems everyone in Clearwater visits the lake sometime during the year so you can have it all to yourself or can't even find a place to park. The site has 5 places to camp. 2 are on the lake and 3 larger sites are up in a gravel area. I chose the later as the wind off the lake was way to cold this time of year. This time of year a 'flower' seems to be growing in all areas that have water. I took a picture of it so maybe someone can tell me what it is.

Post by **thelazygreenfox** » Sun May 23, 2021 6:07 pm

looks like "skunk cabbage" to me. Lysichiton Americanus
thanks for keeping up your posts Larry. I look forward to reading of your travels and the lakes you visit.
Wayne

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