Getting to Bowron Lake Provincial Park

Bowron Lake is a long way from anywhere, and the last stretch is gravel. That is most of why it stays quiet. Here is the drive, where to buy the things you forgot, and where to sleep the night before.

From Vancouver

Around 776 km and nine hours of driving. It is a full day, and a good many people split it over two — there is plenty worth stopping for.

The direct route runs east out of Vancouver on Highway 1 to Hope, then north through the Fraser Canyon. That stretch alone is worth the trip: the highway clings above the Fraser with genuinely spectacular views. It is also a historic road — this was the way to the Cariboo Gold Rush, though most travellers of the day took a paddlewheeler up the river to Yale before starting on the wagon road that became the Trans-Canada.

Out of the canyon, turn north on Highway 97 at Cache Creek and stay on it until Quesnel.

From Quesnel to the park

From Quesnel you are under two hours out. Drive through town on the Cariboo Highway and watch for the turnoff onto Highway 26, the Barkerville Highway. Follow it to the small, quaint town of Wells.

Carry on through Wells for about another 5 km — roughly a kilometre short of Barkerville — and turn left onto Bowron Lake Park Road. After a gravel area you turn left again to stay on the road.

From there it is about 27 km of wide, well-graded dirt road. It is entirely fine in a normal car; take it steadily and expect dust. You will pass Bowron Lake itself before running into the park, where there is parking by the Registration Centre.

Where to stock up

Quesnel is the place to do it properly — several grocery stores and a small outdoor shop for the strap or the stove fuel you meant to buy at home.

Wells has a small grocery that covers basics. There is also a very small store about a kilometre from the Registration Centre, which is where you go for the one thing you forgot, not for a week’s food.

There is no store for supplies inside the park. The Registration Centre sells T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats, but nothing you can eat.

Parking and arriving

There is parking at the Registration Centre, and your car stays there for the length of your trip. This is the part that surprises people who have paddled elsewhere: because the circuit is a true loop, you finish where you started. Nothing needs shuttling and no second vehicle has to be left anywhere — which is also why our canoes live at the Registration Centre rather than being trucked to a put-in.

Remember that your orientation is between 8 am and 12 pm on your first reserved day, and missing it can cost you the reservation. If you are driving in that morning, plan the drive around being there before noon.

Staying the night before

Most parties arrive the day before and sleep at the drive-in campground near the Registration Centre — 25 vehicle-accessible sites, a short distance from the water, with a few walking trails nearby. It removes all the pressure from orientation morning.

The campground is run by BC Parks, so the fees, permits and reservations are theirs: see our camping page for what the campground is like, and book through BC Parks.