Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit

We made this trip in late August, 23-30. It is a 116km circuit to the west of Jasper National Park in British Columbia. The circuit is world-famous among canoers. The circuit is generally done in 5-8 days, and we took 8. It features mostly lake paddling with a few easy portages between lakes; however, it does have one river section on the Cariboo River. It has one class II rapid, but that can be portaged around. This is classified as a wilderness route, but I would put wilderness in quotes. Unless you go in late-fall or early-spring, you will see people every day. All the campsites are designated and are developed with fire rings, tent platforms and pit toilets. Some sites have cooking structures and on each big lake there is at least one public cabin for drying out and such.

In a nutshell: Very beautiful and classic canoe route. Don't expect solitude in high season (June-August).

Getting there:
It is a 10 hr drive from Seattle to Quesnel (south of Prince George). From Quesnel, it is another 2 hrs east to the Bowron Lakes Provencial Park.

Canoe rental:
There are a couple big lodges that do most of the rentals. They have good canoes and canoe carts (wheels). The two lodges are Becker Lodge and Bowron Lake Lodge. We rented with Bowron Lake Lodge. The canoes from this lodge were fine but their wheels were very heavy (like 25+ lbs) -- albeit indestructable. Next time, I'd try Becker Lodge which has lighter wheels and the same types of canoes. If you canoe much at all, I strongly suggest buying your own good paddle. Rental paddles are always heavy and not very nice. My light wooden bent-shaft paddle was highly coveted by all paddlers in my boat.

Reservations:
If your are a group of 6 or fewer, you can try the drop-in spots. Each day, there are 4 spots for drop-ins. These are lottery distributed, I think. Otherwise, you can get a reservation and if you are a group of 7+, you must have a reservation. Search for Bowron Lakes online and you'll quickly find the reservation info. It is very easy to do over the phone. You need to get reservations well in advance. I made reservations in March and there was only 1 group spot available in the 2-week window we had for doing the trip. Being a group had its pluses and minuses. The minus was that we were assigned a schedule (7 nights) and were required to stay at our designated group site each night. The pluses were that a) we had a big reserved site all to ourselves and didn't have to compete for sites, b) we were forced to slow down a bit and take 8 days instead of 6 that we might have otherwise, c) the groups sites were generally away from others and quite nicely situated.

Maps and books:
No need for detailed maps for this trip. You can use the one given to you when you make your reservations. There is a good guide book for the route:

Camps:
Get the guide book. It describes all the camps. Also in our photo album you'll see pictures of some of the camps.

What skill level is required:
Although most of the paddling is lakes, you need some decent paddling skills and a healthy dose of common sense. 1) Flipping in many of the lakes would be bad since they are cold (like the temp of the ocean here in WA). 2) You must paddle the Cariboo River. The river has a handful of class 1+ spots although it is mostly gentle. Although the river is not hard, it is wicked cold (MUCH colder than the ocean in WA) and there are snags all over and a few tight bends to negotiate. Flipping would be bad news -- however that said, the river is not wide and you would quickly make it to shore but sans gear and hypothermic. This route sees a lot of beginners and we saw 2 recent flips; 1 was from the night before and we helped collect their gear. There is a radio at the end of the river and a ranger boat that does rescues. We saw both boat and helicopter rescues during our week on the circuit.

Weather and bugs:
This route gets a lot of rain and wind. Every trip report I saw described paddling in the rain with wind. However, we really lucked out as we often had glassy water even in the afternoon. But normally the wind kicks up every day at around 2-3pm, so if you can manage to get an early start, you will avoid most of the choppy water. It rained about every day on our trip, but we rarely paddled in the rain and had plenty of blue sky. This area is known for bugs, but by late-August when we did the route, they were all gone and we rarely saw mosquitoes. If you come earlier in the summer, be prepared.

Portage:
There are lots of portages, but they are all maintained for canoe carts.

Bears:
BC Parks is rather paranoid about bears in this area, so I suspect that they do have some (black) bear problems. We saw no bears but other parties did see some. We saw tracks near one camp which was on a creek. All camps have bear bins.

Bowron Lakes

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IMG_0648.JPG 2007-08-31

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Our camps are circled in red. 2010-07-25

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IMG_0184.JPG 2007-08-24

The trip starts with a portage
We start by portaging down to Kibbee Lake. This is our first portage and we are a bit disorganized. 2007-08-23

Portage trail
The trails are all well groomed for canoe carts. 2007-08-23

Kibbee Lake
2007-08-23

Bark beettle
End of Kibbee Lake. 2007-08-23

Portage to Indianpoint Lake
Right, so we weren't pros with the whole canoe cart thing in the beginning. We got better later. 2007-08-23

Portage to Indianpoint Lake
K didn't have the "help" of the kids, so he had an easier time. 2007-08-23

Portage to Indianpoint Lake
Hmm, that boy needs a pack! 2007-08-23

Indianpoint Lake
2007-08-23

Wood gathering
BC Parks cuts wood for you, but sometimes it is not next to camp. We made a detour to the wood pile before camp. This is early in the trip, and we hadn't yet figured out how to pack the monsterous canoe wheels. Here we have them high and it destabilized the boat. Ok for still water, but later we pack them lower. 2007-08-23

Camp on Indianpoint Lake
2007-08-23

Camp on Indianpoint Lake
It rained overnight. It rained every day of the trip. 2007-08-24

Indianpoint Lake
Heading towards the portage to Isaac Lake. 2007-08-24

Indianpoint Lake
Heading to the portage. 2007-08-24

Portage to Isaac Lake
Now we have this canoe cart thing down. 2007-08-24

Pond
Pond enroute to Isaac Lake. 2007-08-24

Isaac Lake
2007-08-24

Lunch on Isaac Lake
2007-08-24

Wood gathering
K and A took a separate trip for wood as the wood pile was far from our camp. 2007-08-24

Creek at camp on Isaac Lake
There was a nice creek to mess around in. However, due to the creek, there were also bears at this camp. 2007-08-24

Bear print
Yep, creek = bears. 2007-08-24

Camp on Isaac Lake
2007-08-24

Camp on Isaac Lake
I need a new stove. 2007-08-25

Camp on Isaac Lake
It rained pretty hard that day. 2007-08-25

Camp on Isaac Lake
2007-08-25

Leaving camp on Isaac Lake
It was raining in the morning, but we put on jackets and headed off. 2007-08-25

Isaac Lake
The rain let up quickly. 2007-08-25

Grebe
on Isaac Lake. 2007-08-25

Lunch on Isaac Lake
2007-08-25

Cabin on Isaac Lake
These are on most lakes which gives you a place to escape the weather. 2007-08-25

Lunch on Isaac Lake
2007-08-25

Looking down Isaac Lake
2007-08-25

Isaac Lake
2007-08-25

Second camp on Isaac Lake
This is a big lake. It was raining again. 2007-08-25

South end of Isaac Lake
We are heading to the portage. 2007-08-26

South end of Isaac Lake
2007-08-26

South end of Isaac Lake
There is a big camp here and we met many parties. 2007-08-26

South end of Isaac Lake
View back up the lake from where we came. 2007-08-26

Class II rapid
You can portage around this, but we ran it for fun. We did unload the canoes however. 2007-08-26

Class II rapid
Amazingly, S and A managed to catch the eddy on the left and turn into it despite having their paddles on the wrong side. Bow should be on the port side and draw into the eddy on the left, but they have their paddles on the opposite side. 2007-08-26

Class II rapid
In the big eddy on the left. 2007-08-26

Portage before Isaac River falls
There are signs before the falls, but even at low water the current was strongish here. It was absolutely fine when we did it, but at higher water, you definitely want to pay attention and make the turn into the portage early. 2007-08-26

Isaac River
After that short portage, we are back in the Isaac River. It was mellow on this section (at least in late August). 2007-08-26

Isaac River
The part you portage around. 2007-08-26

Isaac River
Still mellow. 2007-08-26

Isaac Falls
There is a warning sign and the river was mellow here so it was easy (in late August). I'm taking pictures and K is paddling alone so you can tell it was mellow. Water looks rough due the the heavy rain hitting the water. 2007-08-26

Portage to MacLeary Lake
It is raining fairly hard. 2007-08-26

Cabin on MacLeary Lake
We were supposed to stay at the group camp along the portage trail, but it was raining hard and we decided to head to the cabin. By the time we got there, it was sunny. 2007-08-26

Views from MacLeary Lake
2007-08-26

Views from MacLeary Lake
This may be a "find the moose" picture. We did see moose at one point in the marsh in this picture. 2007-08-27

MacLeary cabin
There is not much room here for tents. 2007-08-27

Entrance Cariboo River
This is what it looked like just as we entered the river in late August. Current was not that strong (in late August that year). Farther down where the river in narrower, it was stronger. We saw 3 canoes wrapped around snags with water pulsing over them in the upper part of the river. That was a little alarming and reminded us to pay attention.
2007-08-27

Entering the Cariboo River
S's boat just as they enter the river. (Hey, where's your pfd, S??)
2007-08-27

Entering the Cariboo River
The entrance is just over K's shoulder around the bend. This is my only paddling shot before we get to mid-way. After this I pack away the camera and help spot snags and steer. Everything is packed low in the boat and it handles fairly well.
2007-08-27

Glaciers above the Cariboo River
The river is glacier fed, which makes the water wicked cold. Seriously, way way colder than the lakes (which are already on the cold side).
2007-08-27

Cariboo River
mid-way. Note, both paddlers in the stern of the boats are using our river paddles (straight-shaft and big). In the bow, we are using the straight-shaft rental paddles (bent-shafts are packed away).
2007-08-27

Cariboo River
The Cariboo River about midway down. It's already calm and easy here. The main hard part early on was spotting the snags in the water (so we didn't hit them) and taking the river bends (so we didn't get swept into the snag on the outside of the bends). The river was relatively low (it being late August).
2007-08-27

Gear rescue
We helped collect gear from a very nice couple from Prince George group that flipped in the Cariboo River the night before. Their party lost one boat, but they were able to continue downriver with their other boats and camp in the shelter at the end of the river. They were picked up by the ranger patrol boat in the morning and taken out.

Lower part of the Cariboo River
Now it's mellow.
2007-08-27

Lower part of the Cariboo River
As you can see, the water is much higher earlier in the year.
2007-08-27

Towards the end of the Cariboo River
2007-08-27

Lanezi Lake
After you leave the Cariboo River, you enter Lanezi Lake and here we ran into stiff winds and waves. We pushed on to a nice lunch spot.
2007-08-27

Lunch on Lanezi Lake
There is a shelter at this camp. The canoe is from the party that flipped the night before but they have already been picked up by the rangers. 2007-08-27

Lunch on Lanezi Lake
2007-08-27

Views from Lanezi Lake
2007-08-27

Camp on Sandy Lake
We stayed at the large group camp on Sandy Lake. Beautiful views and nice sandy beach. 2007-08-27

Camp on Sandy Lake
BC Parks provides wood and fire rings, so we had nightly fires. 2007-08-27

Camp on Sandy Lake
Moonrise from the Sandy Lake camp. 2007-08-27

Morning at the Sandy Lake camp
2007-08-28

Sandy Lake camp
Looking in our direction of travel for the day. 2007-08-28

Cariboo River
This is the lower part of the Cariboo River after Sandy Lake. It is very mellow here. 2007-08-28

Lower part of the Cariboo River
This is a good place to see these guys. 2007-08-28

Just above the falls
We followed the river around and then ducked into Unna Lake before the falls. The turn into the lake is well above the falls and there are warning signs. You'd have to try to go over the falls to get swept down them. I don't think we could even hear the falls from the turn in. 2007-08-28

Turn into Unna Lake
It's well marked. Left safety; right death. 2007-08-28

Cariboo Falls
You can paddle to the end of Unna Lake and hike to the falls. 2007-08-28

Cariboo Falls
2007-08-28

Unna Lake
The kids took over a boat and paddled to camp while we walked along the shore. 2007-08-28

Unna Lake
2007-08-28

Moose print
That's an adult size 7 foot on the left. 2007-08-28

Rum Lake
The camp on Rum Lake (next to Unna Lake) is a little dark and buggy. 2007-08-28

Rum Lake
But the moonrise was beautiful. 2007-08-28

Rum Lake - Unna Lake
The water was low and we had to drag through the Rum-Unna connecting channel. 2007-08-29

Babcock Creek
After leaving Unna Lake, we paddle back up the Cariboo River a bit and then enter Babcock Creek. Water is low and we drag the boats a bit. 2007-08-29

Babcock Portage
We drag a bit up the creek and then get to the portage. At this point, we don't have much stuff left (we ate it all) and we just leave gear in the boats for the portage. Earlier in the trip, we would wear our packs. 2007-08-29

Skid Lake
Small lake. 2007-08-29

Loons
Skid Lake. 2007-08-29

Spectacle Lake
After a little portage from Skid Lake, we arrive at Spectacle Lake. 2007-08-29

Spectacle Lake camp
We are at the group camp so have it to ourselves. The views are nice and the camp nice except that it is next to a mosquito breeding ground (swamp). This is the only place we have bugs on this trip. 2007-08-29

Spectacle Lake camp
I must have told the kids to pose and so they all put on funeral faces! 2007-08-29

Spectacle Lake camp
One of the kids duties was filtering water. They would take the boat out if it was silty near shore. 2007-08-29

Spectacle Lake
The next day, we continue on Spectacle Lake. It's more sheltered now and the water is glassy. 2007-08-30

Spectacle Lake
2007-08-30

Grebe
Spectacle Lake. 2007-08-30

Spectacle Lake
Toward the north end. 2007-08-30

End of the Bowron River
Between Spectacle and Bowron Lakes, you travel the Bowron River. It's was more like a swamp when we did it. Here at the end, there were some sand bars to navigate. 2007-08-30

Bowron River
Looking south back down the river. 2007-08-30

Bowron Lake
2007-08-30

The end
Too soon, we reach the end of Bowron Lake and the end of our 8 day trip. 2007-08-30

Northern Waters - Bowron Lakes

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit

Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit

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Bowron Lakes

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