South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park

Off road vehicle use in the park is prohibited. Please click here for information about the adjacent Spruce Lake Vehicle Closure Area.
If you have visited the South Chilcotin Mountains Park, we would appreciate if you could please complete an on-line comment form. This will allow park managers to obtain valuable information from those who have experienced the area.
NOTE: This form is not for providing input to the management planning process. Separate web sites and links for that purpose have been established (Planning - BC Parks - Province of British Columbia).

Know Before You Go

Visitor Safety

Persons visiting South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park are reminded that the park is a wilderness area, without staffed facilities or regular ranger patrols. Visitors should be self-sufficient and ready for any type of weather conditions. Weather conditions can change suddenly in this area and storms with snow are common at higher elevations in the summer.

Encounters with grizzly bears are not uncommon in the park. Visitors should make their presence known while they travel through the park and follow proper food preparation and storage procedures.

Visitor Information about South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park.
Trail Information in South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park.

About This Park

South Chilcotin Mountains Provincial Park is a visually spectacular area with mid elevation grasslands, sub alpine and alpine meadows, alpine lakes and mountain peaks. The park encompasses the complete watersheds of Lizard and Leckie Creeks and significant portions of other large intact watersheds and headwaters.

There are broad valleys and ridges with interconnecting trail systems. Over 200 km of trails through broad valleys, alpine meadows and ridges offer an excellent variety of loop trips of varying difficulty and distances for hikers, horse riders and mountain bikers. Visitors to this park will have an outstanding wilderness experience.

Park Size: 56,796 Hectares

Special Notes:

Hikers, horseback riders and mountain bikers use this area. Park visitors should familiarize themselves with proper trail etiquette when there are multiple trail users. Cyclists yield to all other trail users and hikers yield to horses.
In consideration of wildlife & safety hazards related to bears, dogs should not be taken into the park.
Please keep to the established trails, especially in the grassland and alpine areas.
Bring your own drinking water as potable water is not available in the park. Water is available from the numerous lakes, streams and creeks. Visitors should filter, boil or treat the water prior to consuming.

Hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and viewing spectacular mountain scenery are the main activities here, as well as wildlife viewing, fishing and skiing in winter. Click here for a summary of trails in the park.

Location and Maps

This park lies approximately 150 km north of Whistler and 95 km west of Lillooet. Access from Pemberton is via the Hurley Forest Service Road to Gold Bridge (this road climbs steeply to 1,850 meters and can be very rough) or from Lillooet along Carpenter Lake on Hwy 40.

To access the Jewel Bridge trail head, take the Slim Creek FSR (about 7 km east of Gold Bridge on Hwy 40). off Hwy 40 and heads generally north for approximately 12km to the start of the Gun Creek/Spruce Lake Trail at Jewel Creek. Alternatively, visitors can drive to Gun Lake and access this logging road at the east end of the lake. The park may also be accessed by the southeast and east sides via logging and mining roads. Many of these roads require a four-wheel drive vehicle.

Maps and Brochures

Any maps listed are for information only - they may not represent legal boundaries and should not be used for navigation.

Park map
Eldorado – Lower Gun Creek area trail map
Spruce Lake – Warner Lake area trail map
Upper Tyaughton – Relay Creek area trail map
There is an accurate map available for South Chilcotin Mountains Park, the Southern Chilcotin Mountains Trail Map (ISBN 0-9738679-0-6) is available from various outdoor sports stores and local businesses.

Nature and Culture

Activities Available at this Park

Cycling

South Chilcotin Mountains Park provides some of the best mountain biking experiences in BC with great single track trails throughout the park. Note that there are steep, muddy and or rocky sections on all trails. Mountain bikers must yield to hikers and horses. When meeting horses, dismount and wait on the downhill side of the trail. When catching up to a string, be patient – the riders will pull aside at the first location that has sufficient room to let you by. Several companies have permits to operate mountain biking trips in the park. Click here for additional information.

Fishing

Spruce Lake is the most common fishing destination in the park. Rainbow trout are found in Spruce, Trigger, Hummingbird and Warner lakes, as well as Gun and Tyaughton creeks. Anyone fishing or angling in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. There are a number of companies with permits for angle-guiding in the park. Click here for additional information.

Hiking

For your own safety and the preservation of the park, obey posted signs and keep to designated trails. Shortcutting trails destroys plant life and soil structure. For more specific information on the trails, click here.
Several companies have permits to operate guided hiking trips in the park. Click here for additional information.

Horseback Riding

Horseback riding in South Chilcotin Mountains Park can be spectacular, with easy access alpine, high mountain vistas, flower meadows and good wildlife viewing throughout the park. Horse groups should not camp at Spruce Lake North campsite. Cowboy Camp on the Gun Creek Trail is a great location for horse groups. There are companies with permits to operate guided horse trips in the park. Click here for additional information.

Hunting

The park is open to hunting. Anyone hunting in British Columbia must have the appropriate licence. Check the BC Hunting Regulations for seasons and closures. A guide-outfitter does operate within the park, as does a company with a Transporter permit. Click here for additional information.

Swimming

Swimming is allowed in the various lakes in the park, although the water is generally quite cool even in mid-summer. There are no lifeguards on duty in Provincial Parks.

Wildlife Viewing

Wildlife viewing is popular in the park. Grizzly bears and mountain goats are commonly seen as are deer, grouse and birds of prey and many types of song birds. Visitors may also see moose, bighorn sheep and, if you’re very lucky, wolverine.

Winter Recreation

There are winter recreation opportunities throughout the park, including camping, cross-country skiing, ski-mountaineering, heliskiing, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

Facilities Available at this Park

Campfires

Campfires are permitted. Campers must use existing fire rings and obey all fire closures.

Pit or Flush Toilets

This park only has pit toilets - no flush toilets. There are user maintained pit toilets at some of the designated backcountry sites. Visitors should exercise proper backcountry sanitation procedures when no facilities are available. Deposit human waste in cat holes. Cat holes are 6 to 8 inches deep and should be located at least 100 feet from any water source. Thoroughly cover and disguise cat holes when finished. Bury toilet paper as well. Do not burn it.

Walk-In/Wilderness Camping

Wilderness, backcountry or walk-in camping is allowed, but facilities are only provided in a few locations. There are six areas in the park that are designated wilderness backcountry sites. These sites are user maintained. Some, but not all sites provide a rustic picnic table and pit toilet. These sites are at the following locations:

North end of Spruce Lake - facilities
South end of Spruce Lake - facilities
Gun Creek Grassland (Cowboy Camp)
Hummingbird Lake
Trigger Lake
Jewel Bridge - facilities

All sites are well treed and provide an opportunity to cache food. There are no designated backcountry camping sites in alpine areas. Visitors should practice no impact camping.