Janice Lake (sometimes called Long Island Lake) lies next to Highway 24 (Interlakes) at the McDonald Summit.   The turn-off to the Recreation Site on the shoreline is 22.5km from Little Fort.   The access road is a bit rough and leads to a cleared area with 3 campsites and a steeper final slope down to the lakeshore.   I chose to park in the clearing and carry my boat down the last 50 m.     The paddle starts in an arm of the lake.

The distance around the shoreline of the lake is 8.25km.   At 1270 m, this is a higher lake and temperatures are cooler than the North Thompson Valley.   The lake water was clear and I could see schools of fish.   The shoreline is treed and the lake can’t be seen from the highway.   The lake lies with Emar Lakes Provincial Park.   It is one lake in a chain that can be paddled with short portages between (although one is 1030m long).   At this time, the trails are closed because of windfall and danger trees (link to more information).

The most enjoyable lakes to paddle include these attributes:

• no powerboats
• no lakeshore homes
• away from busy roads
• clean water and a healthy ecosystem
• wildlife potential
• large enough to offer a good workout
• reasonable launch and landing access
• a scenic shoreline

Some good paddling spots have most of these, but Janice Lake has all of these.   Although the lakes of this area are a bit of drive, they are worth a day of paddling in the high country on the edge of the Cariboo.