Phillips Lake lies on the Skimikin Lake Road between Turtle Valley and Skimikin.   The fastest approach from Kamloops is to drive on Highway 1 East to Squilax and turn onto the Squilax – Turtle Valley Road.   Follow the valley toward Skimikin then turn onto Ptarmigan Road.   A good parking area and boat launch is located on the northwest side of the lake.

The whole lake is surrounded by reeds and rushes.   In fall, the lake was fairly quiet, but the lakeside would be full of blackbirds, marsh wrens, and ducks in the spring.

A paddle around the lakeshore is 2.5 km, but there is also marshland which can be paddled on the far end.   This would be better in the spring when there is more water and before the water lilies fill the channels.  In summer and early fall, an algae bloom also fills the lake.   Spring is the recommended time to paddle this lake.The lake sits between the Fly Hills on the south (see below) and Black Mountain on the north.   To the northwest are the rocky slopes of Squilax Mountain (seen above).

In fall, the Turtle Valley and the Squilax Valley were filled with color.   We continued east to paddle Skimikin Lake on the same day, another fine small lake for paddling.