WELLS GRAY PROVINCIAL PARK B.C.’s Wells Gray is known as the waterfall
park. While there, visit Helmcken Falls. PHOTO: B.C. PARKS
Clearwater-Azure
NEED TO KNOW The trip begins and ends at the south end of Clearwater Lake, where you self-register and pay five dollars per person per night (cash only, kids under 13 are free). The lakes, each about 25 kilometres long, are joined by a three-kilometre section of river and a 500-me- tre portage. On the paddle up the Clearwater River, watch for the portage on your right. On your return trip, enjoy the downstream ride. Powerboats are permitted on the lakes, but boat traffic is not a major detractor, especially if you go in June or September, and at low wa- ter fewer powerboats travel into Azure. Both lakes have campsites (Ivor Creek and Osprey) that are designated for canoeists.
INFO WELLS GRAY INFORMATION CENTRE: Clear- water, B.C., (250) 674-2646,
www.env.gov.
bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/wells.html
PARK FACILITY OPERATOR: (250) 674-2194,
www.explorewellsgray.com/index.html
MAPS Download a map from the B.C. Parks Wells
ALPINE WILDFLOWERS, old growth rainforest, extinct volcanoes and snowy peaks are not the typical scen- ery of a canoe trip. Clearwater and Azure Lakes provide an ideal setting to soak up several days of B.C. wilderness. If the stunning views aren’t enough, the route offers great campsites, sandy beaches, a river section, and, in addition to the standard-issue moose and eagles, the Clearwater-Azure route is home to grizzlies and mountain goats. Wells Gray Provincial Park comes by its nickname of “the waterfall park” honestly, and Rainbow Falls
is your proof toward the end of the steep-sided, glacier-fed Azure Lake. If you tire of the falls, forest and beach, explore the wetlands up the mouth of the Azure River.
Gray website. Additional topographic maps are not necessary for canoeing.
www.env.gov.
bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/wells.html
OUTFITTER CLEARWATER LAKE TOURS: (250) 674-2121,
www.clearwaterlaketours.com
PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW Wells Gray was set aside in 1939 to protect an area almost as large as Prince Edward Island. It has since become an important refuge for the increasingly threatened mountain caribou. Much of their low-elevation habitat outside of the park has been lost. Caribou are often
munching away on the forested slopes south of Azure Lake.
NEED TO BRING Bring sturdy hiking shoes and a comfortable pack so you can make the full-day hike up to Huntley Col (six kilometres, five hours one way, 1,300-metre elevation gain). You could also plan an overnight hike to Hobson Lake, where Clearwater Lake Tours also rents canoes (15 kilometres, 7 hours, one way, 300-metre gain). Either sidetrip could justify another few days in Wells Gray. —Patrick Yarnell
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