Located in British Columbia, Canada, Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park was one of our favorite stops along our Canada road trip. The park gives a variety of scenery from old growth forest, to pristine mountain lakes and sub-alpine mountain views. The major activity available is hiking and backpacking.
We visited the park as part of a larger road trip through the Western United States and into British Columbia Canada. During our trip we visited other provincial parks in the area and this one was our favorite.
Getting There
If you are coming from the direction of Meadow Creek, BC or Nelson, BC, you will go through the town of Kaslo. Stay on highway 31a until you turn left onto Kleen Creek Road. You will continue going straight on Kleen Creek Road until the road ends at the main trailhead.
If you come from the New Denver area, you will not be going through Kaslo and will instead need to turn onto 31a at New Denver. You will follow 31a until you see the turnoff to Kleen Creek Road on your right.
The road to get to Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park is a dirt forest road that gets increasingly more rough as you continue up. We were able to make it up in our 2WD car, but I would not attempt if you do not have a very high clearance vehicle.
Things to Know
- While there is no camping at the major trailhead of the provincial park, there are camping spots as well as lodging available for a fee if you plan on backpacking along one of the trails in the park.
- Porcupines can be found in the area. Locals told us that they will climb up into the bottom of the cars at night and chew rubber parts of your car, including brake lines! Because if this problem, you will notice that people will bring chicken wire and use it to block the area under their cars. If you are planning on leaving your car overnight, bring some chicken wire to block the bottom of your car. We used sticks that we found in the area to prop up chicken wire and found rocks to keep the bottom of it close to the ground, preventing the porcupines from crawling underneath.
- Bears are also prominent in the area. The day we were hiking there had been a grizzly bear siting that morning around Gibson Lake. I would recommend hiking with bear spray, keeping food in a bear can or other receptacle, not sleeping in clothes that you cooked in and doing any cooking away from your sleeping area.
- If you are coming in the summer months, be sure to bring bug spray. Mosquitos were prevalent in the area during our trip especially during the cooler times in the mornings and evenings.
- More information about current conditions can be found at https://bcparks.ca/explore/parkpgs/kokanee_gl/hiking.html
Recommended Hiking
- Old Growth Trail: This hike is farther down on the road before you get to the main trailhead and I would not miss it. It is a easy hike that has signs along the route teaching about the old growth forest with facts about how to tell between different trees, the evolution of old growth forests, as well as different types of lichen growing in the old growth forest. The trees are massive and awe-inspiring and there is so much life all around that it will make you feel like you have entered another world. It is worth the stop as the scenery is much different than the other trails in the park. As an added benefit, you can leave knowing much more about old growth forests than you knew before.
- Gibson Lake: The lake is just a short walk from the trailhead and worth the excursion. The lake is beautiful and if you want to make more of a hike out of it, there is a trail that goes around the perimeter of the lake that is an easy and family-friendly hike. We walked around the lake one day and then came back after taking the longer hike up to the Kokanee Lake to take a dip. The cool water is very refreshing after a long hike.
- Kokanee Lake: The hike up to Kokanee Lake is a gradual up hill trail that is moderately strenuous. You are rewarded for the climb with the spectacular views of Kokanee Lake. Our trip was in late July and there was still some snow around this frigid lake. The water is clear but very cold. It felt good to put our sore feet in for a few moments but after around 10 seconds they would begin to hurt due to the cold. One note about the hike is that the trail goes back behind the bathroom/cabin at Kokanee Lake. We had stopped off at the bathroom, missed the correct trail and found ourselves scrambling across the boulders before finding the very doable trail up above where we were.
- Kaslo Lake: The trail continues on to Kaslo Lake. Although Kaslo Lake (at least in my opinion) is not quite as spectacular as Kokanee Lake, it is still worth the hike. The hike levels out more–though still uphill– and the trail meanders through the forest. For us, especially since the scenery is different than our desert home, every mile was beautiful. We ended up going much farther than we had originally planned because we just did not want to turn around and miss something.