The Cariboo River starts under the western side of the crest of the 8000 foot glaciated Cariboo Mountains.   On the other side of the Cariboo Range,  McBride and the Fraser River lie 27 km to the east.   The northern end of Wells Gray Park is 27 km to the southeast.

There are many large icefields that drain down into the Upper Cariboo River Valley at 2010 m (6600 feet).   The river flows west and is joined by a number of creeks also draining  glaciers and snowfields.   After about 35+ km it enters Bowron Provincial Park.

McLeary Lake is the junction point of the Isaac River (draining 38 km long Isaac Lake) and the Cariboo River.  From McLeary Lake, Bowron paddlers go 6.3 km downstream to Lanezi Lake.

From McLeary Lake this view is to the east up the Cariboo River Valley into the Cariboo Range.

Even in early September, snow covered the peaks along the Cariboo River Valley as we paddled downriver.

The river empties into Lanezi Lake then into Sandy Lake (a 20 km section)   The evening light shone onto the upper slopes the Cariboo Mountains, as seen from the north shore of Sandy Lake.

From Sandy Lake, the river continues its westward flow into Unna Lake, then south out of Bowron Lake Provincial Park.   Paddlers completing the Bowron Circuit veer northwest into Babcock Creek for 400 m, then must portage up Babock Creek for 1.2 km to Babcock Lake.   From Unna Lake, The Cariboo River itself runs south for 9 km where the Matthew River joins it from the east, but it cannot be paddled safely.   Cariboo Falls is 1.5 km downstream,  an 82 foot drop.

From the confluence with the Matthew River, the Cariboo River continues its southward path.   There is a dangerous gorge 3 km downstream from the Matthew River confluence (upstream from Kimball Lake).  About 3 km farther downstream the river is the centerpiece of Cariboo River Provincial Park.  The river meanders through the park for 24 km before draining into Cariboo Lake.

Cariboo Lake and the channel to the smaller lake is about 13 km long, then the river continues its southward journey for about 9 km then turns west for another 16 km, joining the Quesnel River at Quesnel Forks.   There are several rapids along this section of the river so paddlers will want to pull out by the southern end of Cariboo Lake.

The Cariboo River is a tributary of the Quesnel River which flows west then northwest to Quesnel where it meets the Fraser River.   It is difficult to measure the length of the Cariboo River as it meanders through valleys, but it is about 140+ km from its source to Quesnel Forks.   We paddled about 30 km of its length before turning north toward Bowron Lake.   We would like to paddle south from Unna Lake to the end of Cariboo Lake (43 km) in this remote valley in the Cariboo Mountains some day.   Its on our list….