British Columbia Canada Blog

Clearwater is located in spectacular Wells Gray Country and is known for its camping grounds, renowned Wells Gray Park, scenic beauty, abundant wildlife and white water rapids which are suitable for young and old alike. It is only about an hour drive from Kamloops, British Columbia.

It’s not too difficult to find suitable accommodation in the region. However, for a true Clearwater experience try camping at the KOA campground and you will surely have lots of fun. Last month I visited Clearwater for the first time when I had a chance to go camping with some friends and was truly impressed by its pristine beauty. We camped at KOA campground and it offered amenities like neat and clean restrooms, games room for kids, wireless Internet access, mini golf, beach volleyball, swimming pool, restaurant (which is a bit expensive) and a campground store (just in case you forget your toothbrush or Bug Spray)   

The rafting experience in Clearwater can be described as absolutely thrilling and exhilarating.  The North Thompson river is suitable for easy going paddling and for extreme rafters the swift currents of Clearwater River can provide some challenge.

If you have a craving for a sumptuous meal after a few hard days of outdoor activities, I would definitely recommend “Old Caboose Restaurant” for breakfast as their breakfast specials are really delicious and quite reasonable.

Related Links:
Clearwater Whitewater Rafting
Thompson Okanagan

Last weekend I went up to Adam’s Lake with a few friends for a boating / camping weekend. Great time. Adams Lake is in the interior of BC just north of Salmon Arm. Having never been to the lake before, it was a bit of an exploration mission. We lunched the boat with all our camping gear at the south end of the lake, which runs for about 40 miles in a north / south direction. There is a road that runs up the west side of the lake only, so it leaves the east side almost untouched. There’s two provincial parks on the east side the are ‘boat access only’ but we were more interested in a wilderness adventure so decided to camp on the beach about half way up the lake, away from the parks.

The weather was perfect. Glassy calm waters and hot temperatures for the whole weekend.  We did some wakeboarding, some swimming, a little exploring (boated to far north end of lake), and found some time for some relaxing too. The only drawback, and it was significant, is that there are an abundance of mosquitoes in the area. They’re vicious, in fact. Between the four of us, we managed to polish off a whole bottle of Muskol, and still managed to come home all covered in itchy spots. It was such a beautiful spot though, that I’m hoping we’d just hit it on a bad weekend. The lake itself seems to be relatively undeveloped, at least compared to Shuswap and Okanagan Lakes. Could be because the water is somewhat colder, and maybe the bugs are bad all summer long. I’ve also heard that it is often quite windy there too. 

I’ll have to go back a few more times to find out. It looks like there are plenty of drive-in camping sites on the west side of the lake. Be ready for the sun to set early though, as the mountains are fairly high and steep in that direction. Although there were lots of signs of wildlife, we didn’t actually see any, except for a few bald eagles and loons. There is one island on the lake, toward the north end that looks like it would be great for camping, except it is quite rocky and steep. I’ll have to go back and check it out for future trips.

Related Links
Thompson Okanagan Fishing
Salmon Arm Cabins

This past weekend we visited Spahat Falls located in Wells Gray Provincial Park in Clearwater, British Columbia. The area resembles a mini grand canyon like view featuring the breathtaking Spahat water falls. Wells Gray Park in Clearwater hosts numerous must see water falls so I recommend taking a trip there.

Swollen by glacial meltwaters, and bearing a corrosive load of sand and gravel, Spahats Creek cut like a grindstone into the soft volcanic rock. As it cut backwards, the creek also cut downwards, so that today Spahat Falls issues from deep within the walls of Spahat Canyon.

Related Links:
Clearwater Whitewater Rafting
Thompson Okanagan

I try to never visit the same campground twice!  This is because there are so many amazing places to explore in BC, and I don’t want to miss out on experiencing as much as I can.  My 3 favorite campgrounds are Mabel lake, Otter Lake and Little Qualicum falls.   

Mabel Lake Provincial Park is located in the Thompson Okanagan Region, near Lumby.  You take Hwy 6 east from Vernon to Lumby and then follow the signs turning north onto Mabel Lake Road.  The campsites are fairly big and very private.  The campground is on a sandy beach and is surrounded by lush trees.  Things to do here include watersports, fishing, swimming, biking and hiking.

Otter Lake Provincial Park is also located in the Thompson Okanagan Region, just bordering the  Vancouver Coast Region.  It is located 33 km northwest of Princeton off Hwy 5A toward Tulameen.  This campground is very private with a natural setting in the trees. The Park is surrounded by the Cascade Mountain Range, home to lots of wildlife including otters, beaver and red squirrel as well as, mountain goats, cougars and grizzly bears.  The Lake is great for watersports, swimming and fishing.  It can be a little cool, but very refreshing.  There are also lots of nature trails along the lake with beautiful views.

Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Campground is located in the Vancouver Island Region, 19km west of Parksville.  The campground has a River and lake nearby for lots of fun activities.  The park also has lots of walking trails with beautiful viewpoints to the impressive waterfalls.   The campsites are large and very private, like most provincial parks. If you are planning to visit any of these campgrounds in the summertime, I would definitely recommend making reservations.   Both Otter Lake and Little Qualicum Falls can be reserved through BC Parks.