Okanagan. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Visitor guidelines
Leave No Trace
Always follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. Minimize impacts on plant and animal life and be considerate of other visitors. Dispose of waste properly.
For detailed information on outdoor ethics, visit the Leave No Trace Canada website.
Help protect Cathedral Park's mountain goats
Mountain goats crave salts. They will seek human salts in sweat and urine, which can result in conflict with people. For detailed information on how to avoid conflicts, please read our mountain goat important safety information [PDF] document.
When camping, use the facilities provided or come prepared with a ‘pee bottle’ to use at night. Do not urinate on the ground in campgrounds. After cooking, dispose of dish water in outhouses. Do not pour it onto the ground.
When hiking, move at least 50 m from the trail and urinate on snow or bare ground. Do not urinate on or beside trails. After hiking, pack away sweaty clothing and gear. Do not leave them hanging when you are not in your site.
Always boil water before use
This park has a permanent boil-water advisory. Always boil, filter, or otherwise treat water before drinking it, cooking with it, or using it for anything else.
For more information, see HealthLink BC’s advice on purifying your drinking water.
Practice campfire safety
Closely follow our guidance on campfires. Check advisories for restrictions. Keep fires small, if they are allowed. Bring a gas stove for cooking. Never gather firewood in the park.
For more detailed information, see the campfire safety section of the responsible recreation page.
No cell phone service
There is no cell phone service anywhere in this park. If you are hiking in the backcountry, bring paper maps. Consider bringing a satellite phone for emergencies.
Bring a paper map
As there is no cell phone service in Cathedral park, you should always bring paper maps. You can print out PDF maps from the maps and location section. National Topographic Series Maps Sheet 092H/01 (Ashnola) at a scale of 1:50,000 covers Cathedral Lakes.
Pets are not allowed
Pets are not allowed in Cathedral Park
No drones
Operating drones without permission is illegal in BC Parks. In the rare cases when we grant permission, you must keep your drone away from wildlife and other visitors.
No garbage
This park has no garbage or recycling facilities. Pack out everything you pack in. Do not bury or burn garbage under any circumstances.
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:
Reservation policies
Get information on:
Maps and location
Getting there
Cathedral Park is southwest of Keremeos, between the Cascade Mountains and the Okanagan Valley. To the park’s south end is the British Columbia-Washington State border. Ewart Creek is on the park’s eastern border. The Ashnola River runs along its western and northern borders.
Access is via Highway 3. About 3 km west of Keremeos, the Ashnola Road leaves Highway 3 and crosses a red covered bridge. Another 10 km further, the pavement ends, and the Ashnola Forest Service Road begins. This follows the Ashnola River into the park. It extends 48 km upstream to the south end of the Ashnola Valley.
No vehicles are allowed to enter the core area on the Lakeview access road. The core area is hike-in only. Three hiking routes provide access to the park’s core from the Ashnola River corridor: Ewart Creek, Lakeview, and Wall Creek. These routes are described on the Cathedral Park hiking page.
We are working to repair Lakeview Road due to damage caused by the 2023 Crater Creek wildfire. The road is closed and shuttle service offered by Cathedral Lakes Lodge is unavailable until further notice.
Things to do
Three well-defined trails provide access to the core area of Cathedral Park. Once within the core area, you can explore many shorter trails. For details see the Cathedral Park hiking page. For a trail map, see maps and location.
Although you can swim here, the lakes are glacier-fed and the water is very cold.
There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.
There are opportunities for canoeing or kayaking in this park.
There are opportunities for canoeing or kayaking in this park.
The lakes in Cathedral Park are not stocked by the provincial hatcheries but they still support healthy populations of rainbow and cutthroat trout. This is because the park contains a great deal of spawning habitat.
In the fall, spawning trout can often be seen. Most commonly, these are seen from small footbridges as the trail crosses the outlets of Ladyslipper Lake, Pyramid Lake, and Lake of the Woods.
Ladyslipper Lake is widely considered to have the best fishing in the park. Though the fish are generally small (six to ten inches), they are plentiful. No special restrictions apply.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
Horses are not allowed in the park’s core area. Horseback riders can access Snowy Protected Area from Ewart Creek to the Juniper Creek Junction. Riding into the Twin Buttes and Haystack Lakes is allowed with a letter of permission.
Camping is available at Twin Buttes for groups of up to four people and six horses. You can stay for up to three nights. Please bring pelletized feed and move your horses regularly to prevent overgrazing and trampling.
Apply for a letter of permission or contact parkinfo@gov.bc.ca.
Grimface, the Matriarch, and Macabre Tower offer mountaineering opportunities for experienced climbers.
Hunting is not allowed in the core area of Cathedral Park. Outside the core area, the use of firearms for hunting is allowed from August 25 to April 15. Hunters are allowed to carry unloaded firearms or bows only when in transit to an open area outside the core area during hunting season.
For more information on hunting seasons and regulations in this areas, see the Government of BC hunting and trapping regulations synopsis.
Anyone hunting in British Columbia must comply with BC hunting regulations. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
About this park
Cathedral Park is part of the traditional territory of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band who have called this area home since time immemorial. The area has high cultural and spiritual significance.
The area currently named Cathedral Park was established as a provincial park 1968. Cathedral Protected Area was established in 2001, to enhance the ecological viability of Cathedral Park and to protect low elevation forests.
Cathedral Park encompasses terrain, flora and fauna typical of the zone between the Cascade Mountains and Okanagan Valley. It contains habitat for 14 protected plant species, three protected mammals, two protected bird species (sandhill crane and prairie falcon).
Douglas-fir predominates in the lower levels, interspersed with stands of cottonwood and aspen along the waterways. Lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce prefer higher ground, giving way to sub-alpine fir, balsam fir and Lyall’s larch. Flowers include heather and lupine.
This park is home to large mammals like mule deer, mountain goat, and bighorn sheep. Grizzly and black bears live here, though sightings are rare. The red-listed badger also lives here. Other common mammals are hoary marmot, ground squirrels, mountain pika, snowshoe hare, red squirrel, and chipmunk.
Canada jay, Clark’s nutcracker, blue grouse, ptarmigan, harrier, chickadee, kinglet, and white crown sparrow are commonly observed bird species. A rare butterfly, Sonoran skipper, is known to occur along the western flank of Cathedral Park.
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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| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
