Cariboo Mountains Park

Highlights in this park

Cariboo Mountains Park is true wilderness, dominated by high, serrated peaks and glaciers. The densely forested valleys feature attractive lakes and lush wetlands. This park is situated in the interior wet belt between Bowron Lake and Wells Gray Parks. These parks now create one continuous protected area in the Cariboo Mountains that is over 760,000 hectares in size.

The park incorporates a diverse landscape ranging from mountain peaks and tarn lakes in hanging alpine valleys, to extensive meadows, large wetland complexes, and ancient red-cedar and hemlock forests. These diverse habitats support an equally diverse array of wildlife species. Though current use levels are low, Cariboo Mountains Park offers extensive, though undeveloped, opportunities for backcountry adventures.

Vehicle access camping is available at the Ghost Lake Recreation Site. This small, remote site features views down the lake and up into the surrounding mountains, and is adjacent to the scenic Matthew River Falls.

Know before you go

Advisories

Safety information

There are few facilities at Cariboo Mountains Park. Visitors should be self-sufficient and experienced in wilderness travel. Drive on gravel access roads at your own risk. They are active logging roads.
Bring your own water, as potable water is not available in the park. Boil or treat any surface water before consuming.
Although in the past horses were used to access hunting in this park, this is not horse country. Horseback riding is still permitted, but the park is very wet, routes have become overgrown and many routes have become impassable to horses.

Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.

Visit responsibly

Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:

Maps and location

Location Map

Getting there

The park is located northeast of Likely and east of Quesnel. The Ghost Lake recreation site can be accessed by travelling to Barkerville from Quesnel via Highway 26, and then taking the 3100 Forestry Road (gravel) from Barkerville. The park is located approximately 70km (allow 1.5 hours) from Barkerville on the 3100 road. This is an active logging road: please drive cautiously with headlights on. Turn left onto a sign-posted 4km access road, which leads to the recreation site.

Another route to Ghost Lake is via Likely (about 90km). The 8400 Road (Cariboo Lake Road) from Likely leads north past Cariboo Lake, and eventually connects up with the 3100 Road. Follow this to the Ghost Lake turnoff (signed), turn right and drive another 4km to the recreation site. The park can also be accessed from the McBride Valley via the Castle Creek Forest Service Road, which leads up Castle Creek and ends about 5km from the park boundary.

Cariboo Mountains Park can also be accessed from Quesnel Lake by boat or along logging roads. However, no trails link Bowron Lake and Wells Gray Parks to Cariboo Mountains Park.

Please refer to the Cariboo Forest Region Recreation Map (East) published by the Ministry of Forests for more information. For map information, refer to topographic map numbers: 1:50, 000 92A/16, 92A/15, and 92A/9.

Camping

Frontcountry camping

Recreation Sites and Trails BC manages the recreation site at Ghost Lake. There are four small sites, which are fairly open. The sites are open year-round when accessible extra vehicles can park in the parking lot. Its attractive location near Matthew River Falls makes it worth a visit. The closest stores are in Likely or Wells. There is no fee to stay in this recreation site.

Wilderness camping

Wilderness camping is allowed, but no facilities are provided.

Things to do

Swimming

Although swimming is permitted, you will not find the lakes inviting. They are cold, and shorelines are typically vegetated and silty. There is no developed beach.

There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.

Canoeing

Canoeing and kayaking are possible at Ghost Lake. The trail to the lake is fairly rough, though not long. Please wear your PFD at all times. This is a remote mountain lake and bad weather can come in with little warning.

Kayaking

Fishing

Fish for sockeye, coho, chinook, kokanee, bull trout or rainbow trout.

Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.

Pets on leash

Pets and domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in beach areas or park buildings. You are responsible for their behaviour and must dispose of their excrement. Backcountry areas are not suitable for dogs or other pets due to wildlife issues and the potential for problems with bears.

Hunting

The park is open to hunting. Please refer to the Hunting & Trapping Regulations Sysnopsis for more information.

Winter recreation

Visitors can cross-country ski or snowshoe in the park but no trails are set.

Facilities

Campfires

Campfires are permitted. No firewood is provided. Please bring your own or use dead and down wood, if you must have a fire.

Pit or flush toilets

This park only has a pit toilet located at Ghost Lake

About this park

Cultural Heritage

Cultural heritage sites have not yet been identified in the park. However, a Cultural Overview Assessment for the Cariboo Region was completed in 1997. According to this study, both the Red Bluff Band (Carrier) and the Williams Lake Band (Secwepemc) may have used the Cariboo Mountains.

This study suggests that the Carrier and Secwepemc subsistence was based on a combination of hunting, fishing, and gathering of food plants. During the winter months they congregated, while during the warmer months families travelled and dispersed in order to most efficiently gather available resources. This process of dispersing and regrouping throughout the seasons was called the seasonal round.

At this time, there is a lack of direct written or supporting evidence to show what specific areas were used by First Nations bands. However, if you do find any archaeological sites, remember, it is illegal to damage them or remove artifacts.

History

The park was originally proposed for protection through a number of planning processes including the Protected Areas Strategy, and the Cariboo Commission on Resources and the Environment (CORE). The park received Class A designation in 1995, following recommendations by the Cariboo Chilcotin Land Use Plan.

Conservation

Cariboo Mountains Provincial Park protects extensive undisturbed habitat ranging from alpine tundra to valley bottoms and lakeshore. A number of undeveloped watersheds are located in the park, which protect old red-cedar and hemlock forests at lower elevations and old spruce and subalpine fir forests at higher elevations. The park also protects the complete Niagara Creek watershed, from its headwaters on the icefields of the Cariboo Mountains to the shores of Quesnel Lake. It also protects the majority of the Mitchell River watershed. Significant features are Niagara Falls on the shore of Quesnel Lake, and small tarns in hanging alpine valleys.

Wildlife

The extensive undeveloped landscape of Cariboo Mountains Provincial Park protects critical habitat for a number of wildlife species including rare mountain caribou whose conservation status recently deteriorated to threatened, or red-listed. This ecotype of woodland caribou depend on the arboreal(tree-growing) lichens found in old-growth forests, which they can reach by walking on top of the deep winter snowpack.

Vulnerable (blue-listed) species found in the park include grizzly bear and bull trout. The park incorporates one of the largest populations of grizzlies in BC's interior. Other species found in the park include black bear, mountain goat, moose, wolf, and many small mammals. The lower Mitchell River and its tributaries provide critical spawning, rearing, and foraging habitats for salmonids, including sockeye, coho, chinook, kokanee, bull trout, an rainbow trout. The lower Mitchell River also provides a spring staging area for numerous species of waterfowl.

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.

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