Park overview
Babine River Corridor Park was created to protect the heart of the Babine River watershed. This is a significant wildlife habitat, home to steelhead and salmon, as well as the bears who feed on them.
The Babine River itself is famously wild, with many rapids and whitewater sections. It originates in Babine Lake, which is the longest natural lake entirely within the borders of British Columbia.
Visitors to the park can enjoy kayaking, rafting, and fishing. These activities provide a natural complement to the alpine recreation opportunities available in nearby Babine Mountains Park.
Babine River Corridor Park is particularly renowned for the world-class angling opportunities it offers. The abundant populations of steelhead and sockeye salmon attract visitors from across the province and beyond.
This is a remote, user-maintained park, with limited facilities. There is a rustic campsite 4 km to the west of the park entrance. There is also a day-use area near the park entrance. This includes picnicking facilities and a pit toilet.
Advisories
Safety info
Logging
Babine River Corridor Park is surrounded by active logging roads. Please use extreme caution when driving or walking on these roads, especially when crossing narrow bridges.
Bears
Babine River Corridor Park is home to a large population of grizzly and black bears. These bears use the park’s trails. If you are planning to visit, please be aware there is a high chance of potentially dangerous bear encounters. If not handled correctly, these encounters could result in serious injury or death.
Recently, the areas around Babine River Bridge, Counting Fence, and Grizzly Drop have been regularly visited by grizzly bears.
We require that visitors take every precaution to avoid encounters with bears and behave appropriately when encounters occur. Before your visit, read our wildlife safety webpage to learn how to reduce the risk of dangerous encounters. During your visit, strictly follow all the park rules.
Rangers are responsible for implementing park rules. For the safety of all visitors and local wildlife, anyone not following these rules may be evicted from the park. Please pay particular attention to the following rules:
- Food, packs, and any fish you catch must be secured in your vehicle. Ensure your vehicle is parked well away from the river.
- Extra care must be taken when cleaning fish. Dispose of fish entrails in deep, fast-flowing water.
- When a bear is seen at the river, you must retreat to a safe place. Do not return to the river until you are sure the bear has left.
- Pets must be leashed throughout your stay at the park. Ensure that your children and pets are always close by.
At BC Parks, we are committed to doing everything we can to prevent dangerous wildlife encounters. But we need your help. Rangers cannot always be there to monitor dangerous behaviour by visitors and bears. To help us keep everybody safe, report any incident involving a bear to the RAPP line at 1-877-952-7277.
For more information on staying safe around bears, please visit our wildlife safety page or the WildSafe BC website.
Camping
There are no drive-in campsites within Babine River Corridor Park. Camping is not allowed in the day-use area. However, there is a rustic campground 4 km west of the park entrance.
This campground is outside the park boundary and can be accessed from kilometre 54.5 on the Nilkitkwa Forest Service Road. It includes 10 moderately sized gravel campsites. These sites come with picnic tables and fire rings.
Starvation Lake Recreation Site provides overnight camping 13 km to the east of the park entrance. Fort Babine Lodge also offers cabins and campsites. The lodge is 16 km before the park entrance on the Nilkitkwa Forest Service Road.
These are not BC Parks facilities.
When travelling down the Babine River by kayak or raft, you may camp on shore overnight. However, no formal campgrounds or other facilities are provided. Camping is not allowed in the day-use area.
Please take extra care to follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. As this is a user-maintained park, it is particularly important to pack out everything you pack in. Do not bury or burn garbage or human waste.
For more information on outdoor ethics, see our backcountry guide or visit the Leave No Trace Canada website.
Facilities
Babine River Corridor Park offers a boat launch near the day-use area. This is paved and single-wide, with a moderate grade.
Campfires are allowed in the fire rings provided at the rustic campground, 4 km west of the park entrance. Bring your own firewood as it is no longer provided at this campground, and we discourage gathering firewood (see below). Campfires are not allowed in the day-use area.
Please do not gather firewood from the area around your campsite or anywhere in the park. Dead wood is an important habitat element for many plants and animals. It also adds valuable organic matter to the soil. Keep your campfire small. Bring a portable stove for cooking.
For visitors wild camping while travelling downriver by kayak or raft, we strongly discourage burning wood on shore. If you must have a campfire, please bring a fire pan to build it in. Do not use rocks gathered from around your campsite to build a fire ring.
Never leave your campfire unattended. Make sure it is completely out before you leave. Pack out any surplus or charred firewood and residual ash, or deposit it in the river. Do not leave any firewood on shore. For more information, see the campfire safety section of the ‘responsible recreation’ page.
Campfire bans may be in place. Before lighting a fire, check for bans or restrictions on BC Wildfire Service and on local or Indigenous government websites.
There is a day-use area in the large gravel parking lot near the entrance of Babine River Corridor Park. This includes a picnic shelter and picnic table. A pit toilet, park information, and the boat launch are all in this area.
Pit toilets are provided at the day-use area and in the campground 4 km to the west of the park entrance.
Activities
Babine River Corridor Park does not offer extensive hiking opportunities. There are short walking trails that follow the river for approximately 150 m, with trailheads at the day-use area.
For your own safety and the preservation of the park, obey all signs and keep to designated trails. Taking shortcuts destroys plant life and soil structure. Bears use the trails, so potentially dangerous bear encounters are common.
For information about staying safe on the trails in this park, see the safety info section, above.
The Babine River provides world-renowned whitewater rafting and kayaking opportunities. Trips can start at the boat launch near the park entrance and follow the river downstream as it flows northwest.
The Babine is a notoriously wild river with 30 km of class III and IV rapids. Rapids in these classes can be highly dangerous. Do not underestimate the challenges of kayaking in this park.
Guided trips are available through local rafting companies. Only one commercial trip can launch per day. You may also plan your own trip. For multi-day trips, wild camping on the shore is allowed.
You do not need a permit for a private trip. However, we ask all visitors to follow our kayaking and rafting guidelines. Please review the advice below before considering a kayak or raft trip on the Babine.
Kayaking and rafting guidelines
Outdoor ethics
Please take extra care to follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. As this is a user-maintained park, it is particularly important to pack out everything you pack in. Do not bury or burn garbage or human waste.
For more information on outdoor ethics, see our backcountry guide or visit the Leave No Trace Canada website.
Bear safety
Bears use the trails within the park, so potentially dangerous bear encounters are common. Use bear-proof containers to transport and store your food and garbage. For more advice on staying safe in bear country, see safety info, above.
Responsible wildlife viewing
Only view wildlife from a distance, in a way that does not disturb the animals. Grizzly bears can often be seen from a distance at Grizzly Drop. Limit viewing to 30 minutes above the rapid and 10 minutes below the rapid.
For more information on safe, responsible ways to observe animals, see the wildlife viewing section of the ‘wildlife safety’ page.
Campfire safety
We strongly discourage burning wood on shore. If you must have a campfire, bring a fire pan to build it in. Do not use rocks gathered from around your campsite to build a fire ring. Never leave a campfire unattended.
For more essential information on campfire safety, see the campfires section, above.
Kayaking and rafting safety
The Babine River’s rapids are suitable for very skilled kayakers only. You must be able to roll your kayak to attempt this river. Always be on the lookout for boulders throughout the river, especially at the bottom of drops.
Every trip should have a designated leader, with extensive whitewater experience. Ideally, the trip leader should have experience with the Babine River. We also recommend including support boats in your trip plan, if possible.
Do not attempt the class IV rapids beyond Gail Creek unless your party has an experienced leader.
The Babine River is a classified angling waterway. It offers world-class opportunities for catching steelhead and sockeye salmon. We ask all visitors to follow the fishing etiquette rules outlined below.
Fishing etiquette
- Give the people next to you room to make safe casts. When someone has a fish on, reel in and give them room to land their fish.
- Avoid monopolizing good pools for long periods. Give others a chance to get in and try out a productive pool.
- Be courteous to others on shore. Stay aware of people behind you when making your back cast.
- Consult fishing regulations and do not exceed your quota. The daily quota for sockeye salmon is posted by Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
Babine River Corridor Park is open to hunting. If you wish to hunt in this park, refer to the BC hunting and trapping regulation synopsis for more information.
There is a no-shooting area around the Babine River Corridor Park south entrance. Please review map F4 of the hunting & trapping regulations synopsis.
The boundaries of Babine River Corridor Park follow the Babine River for 85 km. The park entrance and day-use area are at the park’s southeast end. Specifically, they are near the bridge crossing, 1.5 km downstream of Nilkitkwa Lake.
From here, the park follows the Babine River as it flows northwest. The park ends near Kisgegas First Nation Reserve, 10 km from the Babine’s confluence with the Skeena River.
The park entrance is about 130 km from Smithers by road. Follow Babine Lake Road east, then Nilkitkwa Forest Service Road north for 58 km. The nearest communities are Fort Babine, Smithers, and Telkwa.
Park and activity maps
Any maps listed are for information only. They may not represent legal boundaries and should not be used for navigation.
Learn more about this park
Park details
- Date established: June 29, 1999
- Size: 15,359 hectares
Park contact
BC Parks
Nature and culture
Cultural heritage
Babine River Corridor Park is within the traditional territories of the Ned’u’ten and Gitx̱san Peoples. Both nations have used, and continue to use, the area for sustenance as well as spiritual and commercial activities.
There are many culturally significant sites throughout the park. These include trails made by Indigenous Peoples, and culturally modified trees. Take extra care in these sites and leave any artifacts or remains where you find them.
Kisgegas Reserve, a Gitx̱san community near the northwest end of the park, is used as a training and rediscovery site. There are totem poles and old village sites throughout the reserve.
History
In 1994, the Babine River Interim Local Resource Use Plan (LRUP) first proposed the Babine River as a ‘wilderness zone’. This plan noted the important wildlife habitats in the area, as well the significant recreational opportunities it offered.
The Zoning proposed in the LRUP was confirmed by the Kispiox Land and Resource Management Plan of 1996. In 1998, the Bulkley Land and Resource Management Plan also confirmed this zoning.
Both these later plans recommended protection of the Babine River Corridor
in accordance with the province’s Protected Areas Strategy. Consequently, in 1999, the area was designated a Class A Provincial Park.
Conservation
Babine River Corridor Park is within the Southern Skeena Mountains and Babine Upland eco-sections. The park was established to protect the natural features of the river corridor. Specifically, this park protects the river’s fish populations and the grizzly bears who feed on them.
Wildlife
Babine River Corridor Park is home to an internationally significant wild steelhead population and a provincially significant sockeye salmon run. Chinook, coho and pink salmon, Dolly Varden, and rainbow and bull trout also live in the river.
The Babine River is a critical seasonal feeding location for a provincially significant grizzly bear population. There are estimated to be about 100 grizzlies in the park. Black bears also live here.
The park attracts birds including bald eagles, geese, osprey, shorebirds, and owls. It also contains habitats for mammals including bats, wolves, coyotes, otters, mink, wolverines, beavers, muskrats, and moose.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.