Lillooet Lake Estates (LLE)                  

Nairn Falls Provincial Park

• Nairn Falls Provincial Park (88 vehicle/tent sites) is located just south of Pemberton beside Hwy 99, and features captivating views and day-use areas. As it flows through the park, the Green River carves its way through a mass of granite at the foot of Mount Currie. Having picked up volume from the Soo River and Rutherford Creek on its way from Green Lake in the Whistler area, it swirls and crashes its way along until it reaches a fracture in the granite. Suddenly, its broad shape is transformed into a thundering column of whitewater as it drops 197 feet (60 m) at Nairn Falls.
  
  As abruptly as the theatrics begin, the river reverts to its former character and hurries on towards Lillooet Lake. Unlike Shannon Falls or Brandywine Falls, Nairn Falls does not drop down a sheer pathway but instead boils through several frothy cauldrons. Over the centuries, silt carried in the water has scoured out bowls in which the whitewater churns momentarily before surging to the rocks below. Clouds of spray are jettisoned above the maelstrom in random patterns that are pleasant and hypnotic to watch. This is one of the most (hydro) dynamic sites in the Whistler region.
  
  If you're just visiting for the day, park at the picnic area just inside the park gates beside Hwy 99. The 1.1-mile (1.8-km) trail to the falls is smooth and only moderately difficult to walk. Fine views of Mount Currie present themselves along the way. Once at the falls, a wire-mesh fence keeps visitors back from the edge while still permitting a good view of the river's violent action.

Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park

• Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park (103 vehicle/tent sites, including 9 double sites) is somewhat more remote, an hour's drive north of Mount Currie near D'Arcy. It also has mountain-biking trails and paddling and fishing options on the lake. The gravelled Blackwater Forest Service Road leads 10.5 miles (17 km) west from the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road to Birkenhead Lake. The park has a wilderness camping area situated 1.2 miles (2 km) from the vehicle/tent sites at the northwest corner of the lake. You can either walk to it along a pleasant trail, or paddle in from the boat launch. (Watch for a large red marker affixed to one of the sturdy trees that surround the wilderness site, indicating where to land.) This is a delightful, arm's-length approach to camping at Birkenhead. Both Birkenhead Lake and Nairn Falls Provincial Parks fill up quickly on summer weekends. Signs on the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road inform visitors when the Birkenhead campsite is full so that travellers don't make the 21-mile (34-km) round trip in vain.

BC Forest Service Recreation Sites

• BC Forest Service Recreation Sites Near Lillooet Lake Estates (refer to the map for the numbered recreation sites - PDF file)

6 - MOSQUITO LAKE

* A small, forested site which receives low use. Access road is two wheel drive but may be muddy and rutted. Not suitable for motor homes. Caution: Wharf and footpath at lake may be slippery
* Beach activity, fishing, picnicking and swimming
* Past Mount Currie on the left side going north. Access road passes Ivy Lake.

7 - OWL CREEK

* A large, semi-open area divided into two sites, one on Owl Creek and the other on the Birkenhead River. Access by gravel road, suitable for all vehicles. This site receives low use
* Camping (tents and rec vehicles) fishing and picnicking
* Around 2 km north of Mount Currie

8 - SPETCH CREEK

* A small, forested site which receives low use. Access by gravel road, not suitable for motor homes. * Camping (tents only) and fishing
* Around 6 km north of Owl Creek and south of Birken

10 - STRAWBERRY POINT

* A small, forested site. Parking lot is a five minute walk from Lillooet Lake. Access is by gravel road, suitable for all vehicles. This site receives moderate use. Caution: Watch for logging trucks on Lillooet Lake Road
* Beach activities, camping (8 walk-in tent units), picnicking and swimming
* NE side of Lillooet Lake at KM 7 on the In-SHUCK-ch FSR
* Enhanced site (camping permit fee applies)

11 - TWIN ONE CREEK

* A small, semi-open site accessible by all vehicles. Boat launch provided. Receives high use. Caution: Watch for logging trucks on Lillooet Lake Road
* Beach activities, boat launch ramp, camping (tents and rec vehicles), picnicking and viewing
* At 10 km on the In-SHUCK-ch FSR south of Strawberry Point
* Enhanced site (camping permit fee applies)

12 - LIZZIE BAY

* A medium-sized, forested site which receives high use. Accessed by narrow gravel road, large motor homes not recommended. Caution: Watch for logging trucks on Lillooet Lake Road
* Beach activities, 12 camping units (tents and recreational vehicles) and viewing
* Middle of Lillooet Lake on west side at KM 15

13 - DRIFTWOOD BAY

* A small semi-open site which receives moderate use. Suitable for all vehicles. Caution: Watch for logging trucks on Lillooet Lake Road
* Beach activities, camping (tents only) and viewing
* SE of Lillooet Lake at 17 km on the In-SHUCK-ch FSR

14 - LIZZIE LAKE ** CLOSED DUE TO FLOOD DAMAGE **

* A small but popular site adjacent to a mountain lake. Lizzie Creek Trail starts from this site. Four-wheel drive access only.

* Turnoff at 15 km on the In-SHUCK-ch FSR

* Camping (tents only), climbing, fishing, hiking and viewing

* Approximately 15 km east of Lillooet Lake

* Accessible approximately mid-June

* 5 vehicle (tent) units    

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Canoeing & Kayaking

• Canoeing & Kayaking - Pemberton and Lillooet

  There are four lovely lakes in the Pemberton region that paddlers will find attractive - Birkenhead, Anderson, Lillooet, and Joffre. Joffre is the junior member, while 3.5-mile-long (6-km) Birkenhead is somewhat larger. The other two are much bigger, and much breezier. All of them are sequestered among the peaks that range through this heavily mountainous area. Of the four, Birkenhead Lake is the most welcoming for a quiet sojourn around its shoreline. Launch from the dock at Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park and paddle south. A surprise awaits you, as it does on many mountain lakes: Tenquille Ridge's white-walled flank, hidden from view at the dock, begins to reveal itself to the west, while the mountains that hem Anderson Lake begin to appear in the north. Late spring, when the surrounding snow-topped peaks reflect on the lake's surface, is one of the best times to visit here. Nearby Anderson Lake lies at the north end of the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road. There's a boat ramp here next to Heritage Park, where those with boats on trailers can put in. Steel-grey Anderson is a large, rather forbidding lake to paddle, with few places to land, particularly along its west shore, where the BC Rail line runs. Lillooet Lake is equally large, but has a friendlier appearance. It must be the colour that makes a difference: milky green when seen in full sunlight, a deep jade colour towards dusk. There's a boat launch at the Twin One Creek Forest Service Recreation Site about 6 miles (10 km) south of Hwy 99. An alternative approach is to launch a hand-carried boat from a rough site beside the Birkenhead River Bridge on Hwy 99. The river flows into the north end of Lillooet Lake, where a delta of soft silt is steadily deposited by the nearby Lillooet River. An attractive destination to head for is the sandy beach at Strawberry Point Forest Service Recreation Site. Allow an hour to make the 2.5-mile (4-km) paddle journey one way. High above Lillooet Lake are the three small Joffre Lakes. Two of them require a challenging hike to reach, but Lower Joffre Lake is just minutes from Hwy 99 at the Joffre Lakes Provincial Recreation Area trailhead. Not many visitors make the effort to carry a small boat through the forest to the lake, but those who do are treated to the finest landscape surrounding any lake in the region. Not only is the lake fantastically coloured - shades of turquoise and aquamarine - but it is also surmounted by the massive Joffre Glacier Group. On a clear day, time seems suspended as you paddle here in absolute stillness. The Lillooet and Birkenhead Rivers have been providing sport for whitewater kayakers since the invention of fibreglass. The Lillooet can be treacherous, owing to the numbers of submerged sweepers brought down into the river as a result of logging and slope instability, particularly in the Meagre Creek drainage. The Birkenhead is much more predictable and also more pleasantly landscaped. The Lillooet River system runs for almost 120 miles (200 km) with Class II-III water throughout. Runs include a 3-mile (5-km) stretch on the Upper Lillooet River between the put-in at riverside on the Upper Lillooet Forest Road north of Pebble Creek and the take-out beside the Meagre Creek Forestry Rd bridge. A lengthier stretch of paddling runs for 9 miles (15 km) between the bridge and takeouts at the km 23 or km 25 markers on the Upper Lillooet Road. The Birkenhead River provides more challenging Class III-IV kayaking in tighter confines as the river runs for about 3 miles (5 km) between the narrow bridge over the Birkenhead north of Owl Creek on the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road and another bridge near Mount Currie on the road that leads to the Pemberton Sportsmen's Wildlife Association fish hatchery. To find the takeout, turn east onto a gravel road on the south side of the train tracks as the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road leaves Mount Currie. There are many terrific rivers for whitewater paddlers to play in around Lillooet, and one of the very best is the Bridge River. Featuring Class III+, IV, and V water, with easy portages around the headiest sections, the Bridge demands that those who paddle here be advanced kayakers. The put-in is at the confluence of the Yalakom and Bridge Rivers north of Lillooet, from where it's a 16-mile (26-km) ride to the Fraser River. The Bridge offers everything an expert paddler can hope to find: fast water, raging rapids, hair-raising drop-offs, and challenging technical stretches.

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Camping

• Camping - Pemberton and Lillooet

  There are two provincial parks in the Pemberton region with well-organized campgrounds. Nairn Falls Provincial Park (88 vehicle/tent sites) is located just south of Pemberton beside Hwy 99, and features captivating views and day-use areas. As it flows through the park, the Green River carves its way through a mass of granite at the foot of Mount Currie. Having picked up volume from the Soo River and Rutherford Creek on its way from Green Lake in the Whistler area, it swirls and crashes its way along until it reaches a fracture in the granite. Suddenly, its broad shape is transformed into a thundering column of whitewater as it drops 197 feet (60 m) at Nairn Falls. As abruptly as the theatrics begin, the river reverts to its former character and hurries on towards Lillooet Lake. Unlike Shannon Falls or Brandywine Falls, Nairn Falls does not drop down a sheer pathway but instead boils through several frothy cauldrons. Over the centuries, silt carried in the water has scoured out bowls in which the whitewater churns momentarily before surging to the rocks below. Clouds of spray are jettisoned above the maelstrom in random patterns that are pleasant and hypnotic to watch. This is one of the most (hydro) dynamic sites in the Whistler region. If you're just visiting for the day, park at the picnic area just inside the park gates beside Hwy 99. The 1.1-mile (1.8-km) trail to the falls is smooth and only moderately difficult to walk. Fine views of Mount Currie present themselves along the way. Once at the falls, a wire-mesh fence keeps visitors back from the edge while still permitting a good view of the river's violent action. Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park (103 vehicle/tent sites, including 9 double sites) is somewhat more remote, an hour's drive north of Mount Currie near D'Arcy. It also has mountain-biking trails and paddling and fishing options on the lake. The gravelled Blackwater Forest Service Road leads 10.5 miles (17 km) west from the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road to Birkenhead Lake. The park has a wilderness camping area situated 1.2 miles (2 km) from the vehicle/tent sites at the northwest corner of the lake. You can either walk to it along a pleasant trail, or paddle in from the boat launch. (Watch for a large red marker affixed to one of the sturdy trees that surround the wilderness site, indicating where to land.) This is a delightful, arm's-length approach to camping at Birkenhead. Both Birkenhead Lake and Nairn Falls Provincial Parks fill up quickly on summer weekends. Signs on the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road inform visitors when the Birkenhead campsite is full so that travellers don't make the 21-mile (34-km) round trip in vain. There's camping at a variety of Forest Service recreation sites sprinkled throughout the valley and along Lillooet Lake. The Owl Creek sites are located 4 miles (7 km) north of Mount Currie on the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road. There are two separate sites on opposite sides of Owl Creek, where it meets the Birkenhead River. Farther north towards D'Arcy you'll find four campsites beside noisy Spetch Creek in a pleasantly forested location off the D'Arcy-Anderson Lake Road. Recreation sites on Lillooet Lake are located along gravel-surfaced Lillooet Lake Road at Strawberry Point (road marker 6 Km), Twin Creeks (marker 10 Km), Lizzie Bay (marker 15 Km), Driftwood Bay (marker 16 Km), and at Lizzie Lake on a logging road 7.5 miles (12 km) east of Lizzie Bay. Lillooet Lake Road begins 9 miles (15 km) east of Mount Currie and runs south off Hwy 99. Residents of the Pemberton Valley have been camping at Tenquille Lake since the 1920s. An old cabin that was constructed there in 1940 is now best left to the pack rats, but it still provides shelter if needed. Access to the lake, the starting point for exploring the surrounding peaks, is from either a trailhead beside the Lillooet River Bridge at the north end of Pemberton Valley, or from a trailhead that begins about 10.5 miles (17 km) north on the Hurley River Road, followed by another 1.2 miles (2 km) on the Tenquille Lake Logging Road. Either way, count on a demanding 7.5-mile (12-km) hike to reach the lake. Due to the extremely rocky terrain, wilderness campsites at Joffre Lakes Provincial Recreation Area are difficult to find. For those who plan to overnight in this park, follow the hiking trail on the southwest side of Upper Joffre Lake to where the alpine forest provides some slight shelter. There are no facilities here other than an outhouse and a few rough camping spots that have been cleared over the years. Campers are expected to remove all traces of their visit. Joffre Lakes Provincial Recreation Area is located on the Duffey Lake Road section of Hwy 99, about 14 miles (22 km) northeast of Mount Currie. There is less likelihood of being rained out when camping in the Lillooet region than there is farther west in the Coast Mountains. As Hwy 99 leads from Duffey Lake to Lillooet, a provincial park campground and several small Forest Service recreation sites suitable for camping appear beside the lake and along Cayoosh Creek. At the forested east end of Duffey Lake, a provincial campground with 6 rough vehicle/tent sites is the best-organized site and also one of the most scenic, with views across the dark lake to Mount Chief Pascall and the Joffre Glacier Group. The biting insects here are bothersome during much of the summer and are so aggressive that even a steady breeze doesn't deter them. Several smaller sites are located along Hwy 99 at Roger, Cottonwood, and Cinnamon Creeks beside Cayoosh Creek as it flows towards Lillooet. One of the most extensive campsites in the region is BC Hydro's Seton Lake Reservoir recreation area, 3 miles (5 km) west of Lillooet on Hwy 99. Located on the south side of the road, 47 vehicle/tent sites are spread out in a forested location beside Cayoosh Creek and are open between May and September. One of the campsite's more unusual features is an old Chinese stone oven, a remnant of the gold-rush days in the 1800s. A marker points to its location near the east end of the campsite. Attractively situated Marble Canyon Provincial Park lies 22 miles (35 km) northeast of Lillooet on Hwy 99. Limestone cliffs tower above the campground's 34 vehicle/tent sites, while the placid waters of Turquoise Lake reflect the sky. A waterfall on the opposite side of the lake pours forth a steady stream; the sound helps mute all else. There is a charge of per site from May to September. As you travel west to east through the Sea to Sky corridor between Pemberton and Lillooet, you enter a transition zone. Coastal terrain gives way to that of the interior, and in the process the alpine tundra biogeoclimatic zone becomes more accessible. Around Pemberton, you may have to hike to an elevation as much as 2,000 feet (630 m) higher to reach the alpine than you would an hour's drive farther east. A good example of this is at Blowdown Lake, where you'll find wilderness camping on the alpine perimeter at the 6,700-foot (2044-m) elevation, well below the benchmark of 7,382 feet (2250 m) in Pemberton and Whistler. Gott Peak rises above the lake to the north, while several equally rugged companions flank the lake to the south. Although much of the perimeter of the lake is marshy or touched by snow even in July, there are campsites on higher ground at the south end of the lake. One of the advantages of camping here is that the nearby alpine zone is easily reached for exploring with a lightweight pack. The approach to Blowdown Lake begins from Hwy 99, 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of the Duffey Lake Provincial Campground (see above). A logging and mining road climbs more than 10 miles (16 km) from Hwy 99 to Blowdown Pass. Most vehicles can make it as far as 6 miles (10 km) up the road before parking at a level area next to an abandoned metal-and-wood structure. If you have a four-wheel-drive vehicle, it's possible to go farther, but deep ditches and washouts will eventually halt all but the most hard-core drivers. On foot, it's a 3.5-mile (6-km) hike to the lake from the metal-and-wood structure, and another 1.2 miles (2 km) to the pass. The lake and camping area lie a short distance from the road.

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