Okanagan. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Safety information
- Be aware of steep cliffs and the potential for loose rocks throughout the park.
- There is a steep drop-off from the beach.
- Wood ticks are most prevalent between March and June. These parasites live in tall grass and low shrubs, and seek out warm-blooded hosts. As potential carriers of disease, they should be avoided. Protect your legs by wearing gaiters, or pants tucked into socks. After any outdoor activities, thoroughly examine yourself, children and pets. If you find a tick embedded in your skin, the best way to remove it is by grasping and pulling it, gently, straight up and out with a small pair of tweezers, and disinfecting the site with rubbing alcohol. You may wish to save the tick in a small plastic or glass container for later inspection by your doctor especially if a fever develops, or the area around the bite appears to be infected.
- Swimmer’s Itch: Symptoms will be an irritating rash and persistent itch. Calamine lotion is an effective treatment.
- Poison Ivy: A low plant with three glossy, bright green leaves and white berries. Wear shoes when hiking, especially in underbrush. Calamine lotion is an effective treatment.
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
- Park Map [PDF] (February 2020)
Getting there
There are two access routes which are both narrow and winding forest service roads. These roads are unsuitable for motorhomes, vehicles towing trailers or low-clearance vehicles. It is 16 km to the entrance from Highway 33, just north of Westbridge and 26 km from Highway 3 and 6 km east of Bridesville. The access off Highway 3 is the better route. Follow signs along the forest service roads. The two accesses join 1 km from the park, at which point there is a gate.
The closest communities are Rock Creek, Westbridge, Midway, Greenwood and Osoyoos.
Please Note: Google Maps suggests taking an access road from OK Falls, but this route is not maintained or signed and is not recommended.
Camping
Frontcountry camping
This park offers 34 vehicle-accessible campsites, including four double sites. All function as first come, first served basis. Reservations are not accepted.
The park is maintained during the main camping season and while camping is permitted year-round, access is very difficult. Roads in the campground are gravel and the sites are rustic. The medium sized sites are well spaced and set in a thick forest that offer shade and contribute to privacy. The sites are found in a strip overlooking the lake. Views are through the forest, with a small loop at the western end. Steep trails lead roughly 100 m down to the lake. Cell service can be unreliable in the park and the nearest services are in Rock Creek.
| Vehicle-accessible camping fee | $18 per party per night |
| BC seniors’ rate (day after Labour Day to June 14 only) | $9 per senior party per night |
For information on the BC seniors’ rate, see the camping fees page.
Frontcountry campgrounds
Group camping
There are two group campsites at this park. One group site is located at the entrance to the campground across from the information shelter. The second group site is near the beach. The picnic tables can be arranged to suit a variety of groups.
All group campsite reservations must be made through the BC Parks reservations system. When reservations are not available all campsites function as first come, first served.
| Youth group camping fee | $1 per person (6+), with a $50 minimum and $150 maximum. Children under 6 are free! |
| Regular group camping fee | $80 per group site per night, plus $5 per adult (16+, minimum charge for 15 adults), plus $1 per child (6-15). Children under 6 are free! |
For information on the youth group policy see the group camping page.
Groupsites
Things to do
There is limited hiking available in the park. Starting between campsites 32 and 33 inside of the park, there is a 2 km trail travelling part way around the lake to a waterfall, which is outside of the park. Please use extreme caution while approaching the steep and hazardous cliffs at the waterfall.
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.
The large beach and cold, clear water of Conkle Lake make it a good place for swimming. There are no buoys to mark the swimming area.
There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.
There are canoeing and kayaking opportunities at this park enhanced by the motorboat size restriction.
There are canoeing and kayaking opportunities at this park enhanced by the motorboat size restriction.
Conkle Lake is a destination for fishing as it is stocked with rainbow trout fry by the Summerland Trout Hatchery. The 3 km long lake is framed by steep hillsides and fed by East Creek. Conkle Creek drains the lake and eventually joins the Kettle River. There is ice fishing, though access is difficult.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
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 the potential for problems with wildlife.
Bicycles must keep to roadways. Bicycle helmets are mandatory in British Columbia.
Please note that bicycles with electric assist motors (e-bikes) are not allowed on the trails within Conkle Lake Park. E-bikes are restricted to park roads and areas where motorized use is permitted.
The regular southerly winds create windsurfing opportunities.
There is some snowmobiling along the forest service roads that lead into the park. There is ice fishing, though access is difficult.
Facilities
Accessibility information is available for this park.
There is a boat launch at this park. Boats with motors exceeding 10 hp are not permitted on the lake and the boat launch is most suited to small trailered boats or car top boats. It consists of a small, single wide section of beach marked by rocks.
There is a turn-around area and parking is 100 m back up the road in the large gravel parking lot that also serves the beach and the walk-in group tenting site.
Campfires are allowed and campfire rings are provided at each campsite. We encourage visitors to conserve wood and protect the environment by minimizing the use of fire and using campstoves instead.
Firewood can be purchased in the park or you may bring your own wood. Fees for firewood are set locally and may vary from park to park.
To preserve vegetation and ground cover, please don’t gather firewood from the area around your campsite or elsewhere in the park (this is a ticketable offence under the Park Act). Dead wood is an important habitat element for many plants and animals and it adds organic matter to the soil.
There is one hand pump in the park located in the campground.
The day-use area is a large sandy beach at the north end of the lake. There are four picnic tables and two benches on the beach. An open grassy area separates the picnic tables from the surrounding forest with four pit toilets back in the trees, behind the tables. A few widely spaced trees offer some shade along the beach.
There are stairs down from the large gravel parking area found 100 m above the beach. There are also steep trails with some stairs leading down from the campground. It is possible to drive down and drop people off at the beach, but please note that there is no parking at the beach or boat launch. A handpump for drinking water can be found by the boat launch.
This park only has pit toilets, no flush toilets. The toilets are conveniently located throughout the campground and near the picnic tables in the day-use area.
About this park
The lake is fed by East Creek and is drained by Conkle Creek to the north, which eventually joins the West Kettle River near Westbridge. Conkle Lake, Creek and nearby Mountain are named for W.H. Conkle, who settled in the kettle Valley in the 1890’s. Two rustic log cabins near the park entrance were once part of a fishing resort that catered to anglers who came to the lake to fish for rainbow trout. The resort no longer operates, but the fish are still in Conkle Lake.
The park is representative of the Okanagan Highlands landscape with good deer, elk and moose range. The Okanagan Highlands landscape has very few protected areas which increases the importance of this park. The dominant plant community in the park is a mixed forest of lodgepole pine and immature Western larch. Logging and a fire in the 1930’s left few of the original mature larch standing. Black alder and willow are profuse along the lakeshore and in the East Creek delta. Common shrubs and flowering plants include false box, Oregon grape, broadleaf arnica, lupine and red paintbrush.
Bird species often seen include the common loon, merganser, ruffed grouse, pileated woodpecker, black-capped chickadee, and ruby-crowned kinglet. Park users should always be aware of bears and other wildlife in our park environment. Never feed or approach bears or other wildlife. For more information on bear safety, click here.
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.
Contact
| Reservations, changes, and cancellations | Our call centre is open from 7 am to 7 pm Pacific Time. There is a $5 fee for reservations, changes, or cancellations made by phone.
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| Park operator | This park is operated by Quality Recreation Ltd. |
| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
