Bishop Bay-Monkey Beach Conservancy protects one of the most popular marine hot springs and boat anchorage site along the Inside Passage. Local boaters, as well as those going to or coming from Alaska, commonly stop at Bishop Bay for hot springs soaking, safe anchorage, picnics and camping.
This very popular recreation site includes a boat dock and ramp, boardwalk, tent platforms, pit toilet, and bath house for soaking. The Monkey Beach area also protects a number of attractive small beaches, camping spots, important intertidal habitats and traditional shellfish harvesting areas by local First Nations.
Mooring Buoys: In September 2010, BC Parks with the help of Canada Coast Guard, installed two mooring buoys at the end of Bishop Bay. In June 2015, a third mooring buoy was installed with the help of Canada Coast Guard.
Special Feature: A bath house is provided so that park visitors may enjoy soaking in the warm and odorless hot springs water. The hot springs water comes out of the ground from a crevice in the granodiorite bedrock beside the bath house. It flows out at a rate of about 32.4 litres per minute. Water temperature at the source is about 41.3 degrees Celsius and about 38.8 degrees Celsius in the bath house.
You can donate to support this conservancy through the Park Enhancement Fund.
Prior approval is needed for the use of the Haisla Nation cabins. Please contact the Haisla Nation at 250-639-9361, ext. 362 for Haisla Lands Manager, Tracey Ross.
Two trapper’s cabins built by the Haisla Nation are available for public use. The cabins are 15’ x 12’ with 2 double bunk beds, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Be prepared to sleep outside if the cabins are full. There are sheltered boat anchorages near both cabin locations.
A third Haisla cabin is located outside of the conservancy, but nearby in Boxer Reach, on the east side of Gribbell Island, on a gravel spit about 1.25 nautical miles NW of Riordan Point. There is no fresh water source by this cabin.
Wilderness or marine-accessible camping is allowed. Two mooring buoys have also been installed at the end of Bishop Bay. A short boardwalk trail from the boat dock at Bishop Bay heads south approximately 100 metres to a small camping area that has four elevated tent platforms (three are 12 ft. x 12 ft. and one at 10 ft. x 10 ft.) and a campfire pit. Another short boardwalk trail from the boat dock heads north approximately 100 metres to the picnic shelter, hot springs bath house and pit toilet. Reservations are not accepted at this conservancy and all sites and facilities are on a first-come, first-served basis.
There are winter camping opportunities in this conservancy, as it can be accessed year-round.
Bishop Bay hot springs has a day-use/picnic area. Facilities include a covered 8 ft. x 16 ft. cement bathhouse for soaking in hot springs water, one composting pit toilet, four tent platforms and three mooring buoys.
The UTM coordinates for the hot springs and bath house are: Zone 09U; 5924660 m North; 0510822 m East. The three mooring buoys at the end of Bishop Bay are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
There may be opportunities for fishing in the streams near the shores of the conservancy. Please consult the appropriate non-tidal fishing regulations for more information. Anyone fishing or angling in British Columbia must have an appropriate license.
Bishop Bay-Monkey Beach Conservancy is only accessible by boat or floatplane. It is located about 25 km east of Hartley Bay and 75 km south of Kitimat along the east side of Ursula Channel, east of Gribbell Island.
BC Parks
778-505-2039
Kitimat Visitor Information Centre:
PO Box 214
2109 Forest Avenue
Kitimat, BC, Canada V8C 2G7
tourismkitimat.ca
info@tourismkitimat.ca
ph: 250-632-6294 or 1-800-664-6554
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.