On Plateau Lake
Plateau Lake lies in the hills of the Douglas Plateau, accessed on backroads from Highway 5A. From the highway, it is a quick drive to Peter Hope Lake, but a slow and difficult drive over the hills to Plateau Lake.
It is not easy to get there. There are several possible routes in, but Rec Sites and Trails BC recommends taking the Peter Hope Lake Road (from the south end of Stump Lake), then turning onto the signed Plateau Lake Road for 4.4 km then taking a right turn onto an unsigned secondary road.
This road was very narrow and very rough and it is definitely high-clearance, and but possibly 4WD. If you go in that way, carry a chainsaw too. Cross the power line and follow another rough road down the hill to the lake. This is a total of 8.5 km of slow, careful driving. On the way back out, I followed a different route, following the power line northeast to a junction and then following a much better (but longer) road back. to the Dardanelles Road. From that road, it is possible to go back to Peter Hope Lake Road along the Plateau Lake Road, or down the hill to the north end of Stump Lake. A GPS is helpful but if you use a map, the BC Backroads Mapbook is very unreliable for this area.
There is a good boat launch at the lake. When I was there, there was no one else at the site, nor on any of the backroads of the area.
One of the features of this lake is extensive marl shoals. The silt-mud bottom has lots of lime and calcium which clarifies the water. The shoals had a clear yellowish colour.
The lake was very quiet with no noise from any direction.
A paddle around the lakeshore is about 4 km, but there are lots of marshes to explore and it is such a pleasant spot that two loops of the lake makes sense.
With the clear mineral-rich water comes little lake weed growth, except for one bay where the sun shone on the emerging weeds.
There are 6 campsites at the site, all on flat ground. This would be a fine place to camp, but I can’t recommend pulling a trailer down that road. It is a good spot for a paddle if you have the right vehicle to get in to the lake.
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