Three Valley Lake

In late September, we paddled Three Valley Lake, which is located just west of Revelstoke on the TransCanada Highway.

We stayed the night at Three Valley Gap Chateaux (which was fascinating in a mad-genius kind of way) and launched from their beach in the morning.

There is a public launch off Highway 1 about halfway down the lake. There is a big pull out, a proper boat launch, and easy entry.

We went counter-clockwise, following the main rail line along the north shore of the lake.

Three Valley started as a water stop for engines after the big climb up from Sicamous so there is a fair bit of ye olde timey rail debris and ruins along the edge. 

There is an outflow at the west end. We had great weather with totally calm water. The evening before there was some wind and the lake was a bit rough.

There are also a couple of small islands.

The one with the trees had an alarming number of enormous spider webs. 

The water was super clear.

We worked out way back on the south shore, where there is a fair bit of road noise from the highway. The perimeter of the lake is about 8km and took 2 hours at a moderate pace.

Overall, a great paddle and one I'm happy to have knocked off my list. My dad always put the hammer down passing through here (the Enchanted Forest is just a bit further west, so you can understand his thinking) so we never stopped. 

If you were looking to do a twofer, just to the west is Griffin Lake (maybe three kilometres?). This is a smaller lake but nice. There is no access for west-bound traffic but, if you overshoot, find a place to turn around (Crazy Creek Hotsprings is about 10km down the road) and then come back eastbound, there is a pullout halfway down the lake (first stand of trees after you can see the lake) and you can DIY access from here.