Heffley Lake is one of the best lakes for paddling in the Kamloops area from ice-off to the end of the season, but it is even better to pick a day when it is not full of power boats. In shoulder season and on weekdays, the lake is fairly quiet and it is long enough to accommodate a lot of boats.
The boat launch is at the east end and the route to the main body of the lake passes by two small islands and a point before it opens up. Anyone who wants to paddle the whole lake, including all the bays, will cover 13 km which will take about 2.5 to 3 hours.
Almost all of the south shore is forested. The north shore has a number of homes overlooking the lake, under the slopes of Mt. Embleton. The far west end has a marshy area with few homes but it is the quietest part of the lake. The east end of the lake is the busiest area so we enjoy paddling all the way to the far end, paddling down one shoreline and coming back by the other.
There is a big difference between paddling Paul Lake on a quiet day as compared to a busy weekend in the summer. On this sunny day in April, loons were calling across the lake. Kingfishers flew from tree to tree, chittering as they followed the shoreline. A great blue heron slowly worked its way along the lake to a new perch. Fish were jumping with the chironomid hatch. And two quiet kayakers paddled along the shoreline.
The first day in the kayak in 2016 was in February and the next 5 weeks was paddling in the rivers. Once the ice is off the lower lakes, we look to paddle them, but the first ones to thaw are smaller lakes like Jocko and Six Mile and they are full of fishermen too, so we wait for Paul Lake, Neskonlith Lake, then Heffley Lake and paddle each of those 2-3 times while the upper lakes thaw. Paul Lake is one the best lakes to paddle all year, offering good access, a longer paddle (12.2 km around), and great scenery. The best launch spot is at the Park beach.
The east end of the lake has some shallower areas, but these are no problem for a kayak.
Every year we see trees angled out over the lake as the roots become weaker where the shoreline erodes away from winter storms and power boat wash/waves. They lean, then some fall in a winter storm.
The narrow spot of the lake is at Gibraltar Rock which stands dramatically over the lake.
Steady paddling around the whole shoreline is a 2 to 2.5 hour workout, depending on fitness and wind conditions. The best time to paddle Paul Lake is early in the morning or on weekdays when the power boats aren’t on the lake. We return to the lake a few times each year, along with Heffley Lake and Lac le Jeune, our favorite local lakes.
There are a handful of good launch spots for kayaking on the South Thompson River and the beach at the Lafarge Bridge is one of the best ones. A dirt road goes down to a gravel beach. We can park on the side road above after unloading the boat.
We launched and paddled upstream east to Rivershore Golf Club. There is a lot of shallow water and a series of gravel bars on the north side.
Although the river appears to be wide in this section, the extensive shallows on the north side means that the bulk of the water flows down a narrow channel on the south side. The current is fast. An hour up the river and half an hour down the river is enough for a day’s paddle early in the season. We will be back later in the spring to paddle downstream from Pritchard to Lafarge (20 km).
The first day of paddling on the river was in February and the last day will be in November this year. When we paddle early in the season, the river is cold so there are some things we can do to make the experience more reasonable.
Check the weather forecast in the last 24 hours. Wind is the critical issue. Pick wind-free days which are few, but on many days the winds don’t arise until about 11:30 in the morning, a result of warming of the hills in the valley.
Paddle parts of the river that have a good hand launch with close parking. The best two local choices are Pioneer Park and Valleyview Boat Launch. McArthur Island is only suitable for higher water conditions. Riverside Park and Harrington Road are okay, but we have to haul the boat from the parking areas down to the beach and back. The South Thompson is an easier river to paddle upstream than the North Thompson.
3. The sit-on-top style of kayak or open hull kayaks (like the Costco ones) are not as warm as the traditional style kayaks. Either way, we want to wear a good sprayskirt in the early season.
4. Warm hands make a big difference. We keep our hands dry and wear paddling gloves. There are over-gloves (pogies) available, but they are needed on the ocean where spray is a factor, not on the river in town.
5. Dry feet help too. Usually at least one foot has to be in the water to launch the boat. We wear neoprene boots for this. We have seen people that use rubber boots to launch, then change once on the water. Some paddlers leave their boat partly in the water, get into the boat, and use hip thrusts to move the boat off the beach into the water (this works).
6. Since the water is cold, we definitely don’t want to capsize so we only use very stable boats at this time of the year. Although we can perform self-rescue, we stay closer to the shoreline and if we did capsize, we would pull our boats to the shoreline right away. In general, we avoid turbulent water early in the season.
7. Wear a good paddling jacket. There are paddling-specific jackets with latex rubber gaskets for the neck and arm sleeves. These keep the paddler dry, but the jackets are expensive so some type of layering can also be used. We don’t use wetsuits or dry suits on the river, but if we were crossing a big lake, we would.
8. Some kayaks have good seats that don’t get cold in cold water, but if the seat is just plastic, an inflatable pad (Thermarest makes these) works well.
If we can stay warm and dry, paddling in the early season is a nice experience and best of all, there will be no one else out there but the ducks and geese.
When we paddle early in the season. we paddle upriver then return back down to our launch spot. The South Thompson is the easier river to paddle upstream, but we also go up the North Thompson River too. We launch from Pioneer Park and head down to the confluence, then we use the rudder to take a sharp turn at Indian Point, turning north to paddle the stronger current of the North Thompson. Mt. Paul dominates the views as we make our way along the shores of Kamloops Indian Reserve.
The distance to Halston Bridge from the confluence is 3.65km, but upstream progress is slow on this river. The Batchelor Hills frame the Halston Bridge and the route to Westsyde.
We paddle past Paul Creek, then the Halston Bridge piers and round the pylons of the CN Train Bridge too before heading back downstream. (Video link)
Yellow willows and red osier dogwood overlook the sand banks of the river, Dome Hills and Mt. Paul lie to the northeast.
The route from Pioneer Park passes under four bridges twice (Red Bridge, Black Bridge, Halston Bridge, and the CN Bridge) and is about 10.5 km. Two thirds of the time is spent paddling upstream, a good core and upper body workout for the early season.
With milder winters, I have been able to get the kayak onto the river in February for the last two years. In 2015 the last paddle outing was in the middle of November (although I paddled in New Zealand after that). There is no one around this early in the season and if there is no wind, paddling is good. The water is not too cold, but I wear neoprene boots and a good paddling jacket, but I am also protected by a good spray skirt. I launched from Pioneer Park on a fine day at the end of February.
With no wind, the river was calm. Paddling upstream is hard work, but the South Thompson is the best choice for an upriver-and-back workout.
With blue skies, the hills were reflected in the water.
I went upstream for an hour then turned back for an easy return paddle downstream. By getting out early and paddling long slow distance, we can build for the endurance we will need in the main part of the paddling season. We have planned to do the Bowron Circuit, Clayoquot Sound, the Wallace Island area, the Columbia River Reservoirs, and Murtle Lake, among others. This was Day 1 of an estimated 70+ days of paddling for 2016….
Queen Charlotte Sound in B.C. is the body of water between the end of Vancouver Island and Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands). In New Zealand, there is another Queen Charlotte Sound that is part of a series of sounds (sort of drowned river valleys) that extend inland at the north end of the South Island, protected from the prevailing winds from the Tasman Sea. For kayakers, there are 1500km of shoreline to paddle. Queen Charlotte Sound is the most accessible. The ferry from the North Island goes up the sound to land at Picton, where kayakers can also launch. We launched instead from Anaikwa at the end of the Sound and paddled east out toward Picton, going in and out of bays along an out-and-back route.
We spotted sting rays under the water and shags (cormorants) nesting on the bluffs above the sea. One of the bays was a sacred spot (tapu) where Maori warriors were purported to have eaten the hearts of their conquered enemies. We avoided that landing.
The Sounds offer paddlers an opportunity to explore the ocean shores without the challenges of big waves and strong winds. On the day that we ventured out, it was quite windy so we just stayed near the shoreline in our tandem.
The air in New Zealand seems always clear and fresh, surrounded by the ocean. There are no cities in this area, only small towns and villages. Our camp was in a small holiday park in Linkwater called Smith’s Farm. This was a good basecamp to hike and paddle from. In fact, we liked the whole coastline from Picton to Farewell Spit so much that we would happily hike and paddle in only that area in a visit to New Zealand.
The area is sometimes called the Marlborough Sounds, which includes about 4000 square kilometers of peninsulas, islands, and sounds. The complex and ragged coastline was formed by a combination of subsidence (sinking and the opposite – uplifting) and rising sea levels. All of the sounds run southwest to northeast out to the Tasman Sea. Some of the Sounds are only a hike over a low serrated ridge to the next Sound and where a lower area lies between Sounds a small community (like Portage and Linkwater) often serves as a base to support paddlers, hikers, fishermen, and tourism. Hiking trails follow some of the ridges and one of New Zealand’s newest Tramps is the Queen Charlotte Track, a 70km trek from Ship Cove to Anaikwa. We hiked one leg of the track (article to follow).
Visitors often drive off the ferry and continue all the way west to Nelson without stopping at the peaceful and scenic villages on the sounds. For those who love to paddle and hike, the Sounds are a wonderful destination for a few days of exploration.
Trapp Lake is a long narrow lake right on Highway 5A. It is surrounded by hills and rangelands, though there is some Crown land too. It is not known as a fishing lake, nor does it see much recreational use. There is a good hand launch spot for paddlers a short distance off the highway (at N50 27.931 W120 16.246).
We can go around the lake in either direction, but it will depend on the wind. On this day early in the morning the lake was calm and the reflections off the hills were displayed in the lake’s surface.
It was almost a shame to paddle since the movement of the boat sent ripples into the reflections.
The grasslands stretch up the hillsides in both directions.
The water quality of the lake is not the best and there can be an algae bloom on the lake mid-summer, but in fall it is a quiet, cool, muddy lake down in the bottom of the valley.
Paddling down one shore to the end and back up the other in a long loop is a 10.4 km paddle. The highway traffic is the drawback, but on a weekday morning the number of vehicles was comparatively low and I just tuned out the noise. In its own unique way, Trapp Lake is another beautiful spot in our area.
My first day of paddling in 2016 was February 24th. The last day will be November the 9th, but we paddled in New Zealand in December too. November is still a fine month for paddling on the rivers in Kamloops. We paddled two days before flying south for a month.
We launched our kayaks at North Thompson Provincial Park and paddled downriver to Kamloops over 3 days. We spent our first night on an island in the middle of the river.
We launched in the morning on the second day and stopped for a break on one of the many sandbars along the route.
This second section of the journey has many sections of calm water for a longer day of paddling. The hills on either side rise above the farmland benches of Darfield and Chu Chua.
Cottonwoods line the river and sandbars are exposed in August. When we paddled this route in June one year, the water ran fast and there were many side channels, but few gravel bars or sandbars above the water.
The river moves quickly past Barriere and through Fishtrap Canyon. The hills are barren because of the 2003 McLure Fire.
There are some bumpy sections of water through Fishtrap Canyon as we round Mount Goudreau and Skull Hill, offering some interesting and scenic paddling. At the bottom of Fishtrap Canyon there are some rapids and several islands. In high water, there are three islands, but by August they are a single island. There are some small bays and sandy beaches on the west side with campsites suitable for a few tents.
This was our second night of camping, after a 39 km paddle.
The third day was a slower paddle past McLure and Vinsulla towards a canyon north of Heffley Lake.
Although the river seems to be moving slowly, we averaged 8.5 km/hour over the 36 km distance to Kamloops.
The Heffley Rapids are always an exciting paddle, but they are less formidable in August. We stopped at the mouth of Jamieson Creek to scout the rapids and pick a route. We opted for a route to the right and passed through without incident, but we also enjoyed the bumpy ride over a series of smaller rapids over a kilometer distance. Below the rapids, we passed Heffley creek and Rayleigh with grasslands above the communities.
Old log boom poles run down the side of the river in Rayleigh.
We landed in Westysde at Harrington Road, not the best place to haul the boats and gear, but Kamloops lacks good landing/launching spots on the North Thompson within the City’s limits.
The entire journey was about 112km over 3 days. There are many good places to camp on islands in the river so the trip could be done in 2-4 days. We had good weather and little wind so the days were long, but reasonable. Camping on the river is a wonderful experience, one that we will paddle downriver Clearwater to Kamloops again in upcoming years.
Glimpse Lake is in the forest at the upper edge of the Douglas Lake grasslands. To get to the lake, turn onto the Douglas Lake Road at Nicola Lake and climb through the ranchlands for 7 km, then turn left onto the Lauder Road. Follow the Lauder Road for 16 km as it passes the Lauder Ranch and a section of the Nicola Lake Indian Reserve. At the starting edge of the lake at a cattleguard, a signed sideroad goes into Glimpse Lake Southwest Rec Site. It is a shady site with 8 campsites and a shallow shoreline.
The main road goes around to the north side of the lake and there is a good public boat launch for fishermen (electric motors only) and paddlers. There is also an open-forested recreation site (Glimpse Lake North) farther along the road with 17 campsites.
Paddlers can hand launch at either Rec Site, but the main boat launch is a good one and a better choice for both parking, launching, and landing. The paddle around the shoreline is about 6 km.
There are extensive shallows in the lake and in fall, the lake was down a couple of feet so paddlers have to be careful to stay out of the reeds, milfoil, and mud. The lake is popular with fishermen so it is best to pick non-prime times to visit the lake. A sign at the boat launch states that 12 000 Pennask rainbow trout were stocked in the lake.
Click an image for a lightbox (larger) view:
The paddle around Glimpse Lake is a peaceful retreat off-season and a good choice for canoes or kayaks. In addition, the drive up the Lauder Road is a scenic one. The Charles Beaks cabin is passed not far above the Nicola River.
The Lauder Road climbs up through the open grasslands of the Douglas Plateau.
It is possible to return by backroads past Peterhope Lake too, but bring a current topo map and/or a GPS to navigate that route. I chose to backtrack, taking the time to enjoy the views along the way.
Surrey and Sussex Lake lie near to the Surrey Summit (1444 m /4738 feet) on the Coquihalla Highway, but the access route is off the Logan Lake Road. Going west towards Logan Lake for 7 km, we turn left onto the Surrey Lake Forest Service Road and follow the road up the hill for 6.9 km until it passes under the Coquihalla. Watch for a Surrey Lake Fishing Resort sign and turn right onto that sideroad. At 1.3 km, the Resort is reached, but look for another side road going to the right. This narrow road follows the western shoreline of Surrey Lake and beyond to Sussex Lake.
I found 3 spots to park and hand launch on the side of Surrey Lake. Paddlers could also ask to launch at the Resort which would involve a small day-use fee. The shoreline paddle is 4.6 km, including the shallow bay on the northeast side of the lake.
In fall this lake was very quiet. The cool morning temperatures left a few lingering mists, but there were some ducks in the shallow bays. There are a small handful of cabins on the lake in addition to the fishing resort, but no one was stirring on this day. Most of the shoreline is treed and even through there has been extensive logging in the area, most of the cut blocks are not visible from the lakes, except on one side of remote Sussex Lake.
The road continues over to Sussex Lake, but it is narrow and rough 0.6km to the Sussex Lake Rec Site. Bring an axe or chainsaw for any fallen trees. From Google Earth, there appears to be another route through a cutblock to the west that will be fine for an ATV, but I did not try to bring the truck on the track.
The Rec Site sits on the banks of the lake. There is a room for a few campers there, an outhouse and some user-made fire rings. A small hand launch area makes easy unloading. The paddle around the lake was 3.2km. There are no cabins at Sussex Lake; its just a nice high country spot for fishing or paddling.
After paddling the two lakes (7.8km), I came back down the FSR and stopped at Desmond Lake, visible from the Coquihalla. This small, marshy lake would be better suited to a paddleboard in the spring when it is full (1.7 km around the shoreline).
Near Surrey and Sussex Lakes are more lakes – Frogmoore (a favorite), Bob Lake, and Mildred Lake, more spots for exploration in the High Country.
Isobel Lake is a fine destination for a short hike or to camp at the redeveloped Rec Site. Fishing is now restricted to youth, in this small, shallow lake stocked with rainbow trout. All around the shoreline is quite shallow, but the middle of the lake is up to 25 feet deep. For paddlers, the lake is only 2.5km around the perimeter, but it makes a quiet SUP choice for a cool fall day. I parked and launched at the boat launch area on the northeast corner of the lake.
In a counter-clockwise loop, we pass a fishing dock, added for youth and seniors. We then pass the Forest Inn, an outdoor shelter area for group use. The west end is very shallow and surrounded by bullrushes and reeds. The south shore has a number of small islands and logs to paddle around. On the eastern shoreline, we can paddle around the island in a narrow and shallow passage through the bullrushes.
Shallow water and pond growth extends far out into the bays around the lake. Fall colors were emerging and three islands are passed on the SUP loop around the lake.
In the summer this can be a busy place and on some days school groups come over from nearby McQueen Lake. On this last visit early in the morning, mist was still on the lake and there was no one around, with a few ducks on the lake to keep me company.
At the end of September and into the first days of October, we drove to Blue River, then went into Murtle Lake for 4 days, paddling into the west arm.
From Blue River we drove up the narrow Murtle FSR for 27 km to the parking area. The parking lot is well-laid out and has information boards and an outhouse. The portage in is 2.5 km and takes about 1.25 hours. The Park Operator was working on the track and so it was a bit rough, but we appreciated the maintenance being done on the bridges, the parking area, the launch area and the portage path.
I used a kayak cart, but I could see that a canoe cart (with bigger wheels) would be better for a longer kayak and a bigger load. Its still a good workout to get in to Murtle (and back out is harder after paddling). Paddlers can rent a cart at Blue River or pick it up at the lake.
From the end of the track, we launched our loaded kayaks into Murtle Lagoon. At the west end of the lagoon Snookwa Creek enters the lagoon, draining the southern slopes and the Stevens Lakes up in Indian Valley. The distance through the lagoon is 1.6km. There are two campgrounds right at entrance into the lake and we have stayed there before right next to the sandy beach. This is a good choice if conditions are windy on arrival. Paddlers either head north or west from this point. The first campsite on the way north is Strait Creek, a wonderful spot.
This time we pointed our kayaks to the northwest with no winds to slow us down. Our route passed Sandy Point Campground at 5.4 km. The Wavy Range dominated views to the east.
At 8.9 km we passed the point where the Park Operator’s cabin sits looking over the lake. By going in straight line, we saved some distance and Fairyslipper Island was passed at 11.2 km. There are 4 West Arm campgrounds not far past the island – Leo Island, Birch Beach, Cottonwood, and Tropicana. We paddled down the middle of the lake and found Leo Island unoccupied so we landed and set up a base camp for the duration of this trip, a first day total of 13 km of paddling.
Leo Island has 3 designated fire rings with room for 2-4 tents at each. There is also a bear-proof food cache and an outhouse. The operator had left some sections of windfallen trees for firewood. The beaches are sandy and the water is clear and clean, especially in the fall.
A sandy spit reaches out south from the campsite, but there is another sandspit on the other side too. When I hiked the Central Mountain Trail on another trip, I could see the sand bars on either side extending toward the shoreline of the lake.
Nearby are 3 alternate campsites:
Cottonwood Campsite (0.6k m north)
Birch Beach (1.0 km northeast)
Tropicana (1.3km west)
Any of these sites will make a good basecamp for paddling and exploration of the west arm (more information on where to go in the next story).
Pass Lake is located on the Lac du Bois Road about 2.5km past the McQueen Lake-Isobel Lake turn-off. Access is through the Pass Lake Rec Site. There are 13 camping spots at this fishing lake and a good boat launch.
This is a small lake and I used the SUP to do a 2.5km loop around the lake. Lakes with a perimeter of 2-4 km are just right for the board, leaving larger lakes to the kayak.
The shoreline is shallow but the water is about 30′ deep for much of the middle section of the lake.
At the west end of the lake is a former Agriculture Canada Field Research Station. This was established in 1886, at first as part of a federal forest fire lookout station, but later was made part of the Ag Canada Station in Brocklehurst which then was closed by the Conservative Government in 2013. The land is currently leased to local ranchers. When I paddled by, it was actively being used.
Beyond Pass Lake the road continues and becomes the Sawmill Lake Forest Service Road going into the high country near Saul Lake, Tranquille Lake, and beyond to Criss Creek. Another branch heads over the O’Connor Road to Mt. Hyde and back to Westsyde.
This is a popular campsite fishing spot so paddlers are advised to pick less busy times to paddle the small lake. On an early morning in September, there were no boats of the lake in an hour of quiet paddling.
