On a recent paddling trip kayaking downriver from Clearwater to Kamloops, we explored islands in the middle of the North Thompson River and camped overnight on them during the 3 day journey.   At the end of the first day of paddling we landed on the final island of Chu Chua Cottonwood Provincial Park.

BC Parks describes the park as follows:

“An area of large, undisturbed, floodplain islands in the North Thompson River. The typical large floodplain area is in a natural, undisturbed condition.”

We landed on the gravel beach and camped up in low sand dunes on the edge of the green space – grass, willows, and osier dogwood surround cottonwood forests.   To go right to the interior of each island means pushing through tall undisturbed growth.   We saw many deer and bird tracks, but no human or cow traces were spotted.   This is a rarely visited set of islands.

In high water, there is a chain of separate islands, then when the river recedes, small channels separate them and by mid-summer, some go dry.

Muddy shoals and gravel bars appear in the river, making navigation difficult for anything but canoes, kayaks, and possibly river jetboats.

The river was peaceful, but Highway 5 is not far away on one side and the CN tracks are on the other side.

We landed on a number of other islands on our downriver paddle.   We camped on two of these and enjoyed explored the rarely visited isles of the North Thompson River.

Revised – 12/2024