Echo Lake Provincial Park, near Vernon

In mid-September, a holiday took us to the Okanagan and we spent a morning paddling Echo Lake, about an hour east of Vernon. The road in a pretty typical BC experience with pavement becoming gravel becoming dirt. 

The easiest access point is at the east end of the lake through the Echo Lake Lodge (red arrow above). They charged $12.50 plus tax per boat and had restricted hours. The other option is to DIY an entrance from one of the many lookouts along the road.

The green arrow is hard because of the slope down to the water (it is steeper than it looks in the photo, maybe a 35 degree slope). There was also a lot of oregon grape here and, naturally, some very large bear poops.

This is the entrance from the water. It is a doable entry but it would have sucked so we kept driving.

The second access point (orange arrow) was the one we chose. It had a steep slope but not too difficult in good shoes (flip-flops won't work). There is maybe a 6 meter drop over 30 meters of carry.

Once at the bottom, there was a nice little shelf. This is essentially the same arrangement as you find at the blue arrow.

The water was super clean and this would be a great lake for SUP.

We went left (east) off the launch and headed down the lake. The lake is 3km long by maybe 500m wide (at the widest point). It took us about two hours of leisurely paddling to complete a circuit, although we stopped for lunch and to enjoy the view.

Above you can see the launch at the yellow arrow. This has less of a slope but some tricky lifting. It was also quite busy with people fishing. The pull-outs are not large (maybe two or three cars, max).

As you get towards the eastern end of the lake, the various campsites at the resort become visible, some with water access.

Above is a fairly decent shot of the resort's launch, with a beach and a dock. And now to the scenics.

With the exception of a private cabin at the east end, the rest of the shoreline is basically wild. The north shore is drier while the south shore has more a rainforest vibe, with cedar, ferns and moss.

There were some loons on the lake and some fish jumping.

We also saw this eagle just hanging out.

There is a small beach on the south shore with a picnic table and a nice place to swim. It looks like you can hike in here.

There were also some cool mossy logs.

The water was almost unbelievable green in the sunlight.

The haul back to the truck was a tough one!

Overall, a great lake despite the trickier entry. The absence of any kind of facilities (except at the private resort) demonstrates that, absent public toilets, everything becomes a toilet. BC Parks could likely do better in this regard.

Twin Lakes, Crimson Lake Provincial Park

In mid-September, we overnighted in Rocky Mountain House. With a free evening on our hands, we headed to Crimson Lake Provincial Park (about 10km NW of town) to try out Twin Lakes. Twin Lakes is small lake (maybe 800m by 400m), really more of a fishing pond, but quite lovely.

There are a couple of access options. Almost as soon as you turn into the lake, there is a small parking area on the west end with a path that leads down to a dock. There is an easy shore launch here but the stairs down were uneven.

We opted to drive around to the east side of the lake (3 minutes?) and use the hand launch, which I think is the nicer option.

You can drop beside the lake and then go park about 20m away. You can launch off the sandy/gravel shore or you can use the proper kayak launch on the dock. There are pit toilets here as well as picnic tables and fire rings.

We did two leisurely laps over the course of an hour.

The water was very clear and clean.

There are a couple of places you can get out on the south and west shores.

There were lots of fish jumping and a loon was fishing.

The water was very calm and the reflections as the sun started to set were great.

There is a second smaller lake to the southeast. There is a narrow channel that appears to connect to it on the air photos. The channel was only slightly wider than my boat and, after about 20m, it started to twist such that I couldn't get my 10-foot boat through it. A shorter boat or higher water might be required.

Overall, this was one of the nicest paddles of the summer and you could easily do Twin Lakes and nearby Crimson Lake in a single day.

Medicine Lake Provincial Recreation Area, near Rocky Mountain House

In mid-September, a trip to the Okanagan took us past Medicine Lake (about 30 minutes north and east of Rocky Mountain House). The lake is about 3.5km long and 500m wide and requires about a 12km drive on gravel.

Lake access is through the provincial recreation area campground's day-use area. There are pit toilets, a picnic shelter, and some picnic tables. The boat launch is cement but there is a sandy launch beside it as well as a floating dock You can drop beside the water and park about 30m away. The water was super clear and clean, even very late in the season.

We had a cloudy and windy day when we were there and the lake was really rolling. We turned right (north) off the launch to head into the wind and the calmer north end. Basically, the lake is a reedy edge with a mixed forest beyond that. There are some sandier spots you can get out fairly easily.

As we puttered in the north end, the wind started to calm down.

We then use the tailwind to coast to the south end. While pretty enough, the lake wasn't super interesting. Just a lot of treed shoreline.

We did see a bald eagle sitting in a tree, likely waiting out the wind.

By the time we turned around and came back up the east shore towards the launch, the wind had abated a bit and the sun started to come out.

There are a fair number of campsites on the eastern shore with water access (if that is your jam). Several folks were fishing or getting ready to go out.

There is a small pond just east of the campground that connects to the lake. You could, theoretically, get a boat under this bridge but a half-finished beaver dam made access impossible for us.

The camp hosts appeared to be renting boats as a side hustle.

Overall, a nice lake with a boreal feel and great water. I'm not sure I would drive here to paddle, but if I were going by, I might stop again.