Columbia Lake to the headwaters of the Columbia River, BC

Back in July, we were in southeastern BC and paddled across the south end of Columbia Lake to work out way up to the headwaters of the Columbia River. We put in at the Tilly Memorial Park (yellow arrows) in Canal Flats. We then padded across the lake and up the river/stream in the lower left corner to the head waters (blue arrow). If it was a windy day, you could also get in at the orange arrow.

Tilly Memorial Park is a municipal site and charges $5 a head for access. There are flush toilets, a change room, picnic tables and a roped swimming area off what looked like a gravel beach. There is also a boat launch and a dock and lots of parking.

We had an easy gravel beach launch. The fellow at the kiosk recommended we with go up the east side of the lake, staying close to shore because the wind can be sudden and big, or paddle across the southern end of the lake and find the head waters of the Columbia River. We chose the latter.

It was 2.5 or 3km across the lake. The water was crystal clear and the water was 4- to 9-feet deep. There were lots of fish. There were no power boats to speak of here--they headed up the lake.

As we approached the river mouth, things got shallower and the main channel was obvious.

The river got narrower and shallower as we worked our way up.

Periodically, though, there would be a deep hole with blue water and a silty bottom.

Down in the silt, you could see springs bubbling up. It was a very cool paddle, reminding me a bit of Yellowstone.

Eventually, we go to and under the bridge and managed to pole and bum-scoot our way up the stream other 250 feet. 

We finally abandoned the boats and walked the last 50 feet. The water was insanely cold!

The headwaters were nothing special but it was a pretty interesting paddle.

Overall, I probably wouldn't do this again, but it was very fun to do once and the lake itself was beautiful.