Located north of Nelson, ruggedly beautiful Kokanee Glacier Park offers an excellent backcountry adventure. Sitting mostly above 1,800 metres in elevation, the park has two glaciers named Kokanee and Woodbury. The glaciers feed over 30 lakes and are the headwaters of many creeks.
Kokanee Lake is 1,200 metres in length and 400 metres wide, surrounded by precipitous cliffs and rock slides. Other scenic lakes in the park include Sapphire, Joker, Gibson, Kaslo and Tanal Lakes, which offer good fishing for rainbow and cutthroat trout. With 85km of well-marked trails, this park is appropriate for campers, hikers and climbers with all levels of outdoor experience.
Kokanee Glacier Park, set aside in 1922, is one of the oldest parks. It has a long history of well established recreational use and is perhaps the best known alpine park in the Kootenay area of British Columbia. Its boundaries encompass 32,035 hectares of some of the most scenic mountain country found in the Selkirk Mountains of southern British Columbia.
As the dominant feature in the park’s center, Kokanee Glacier forms the culmination of mountain ridges and valleys leading in from Kootenay and Slocan Lake. A contrast of varying terrain heighten the beauty of the Park’s mountain landscape.
Access to the park was developed from old mining and forestry roads. Leading from these various road ends, trails dating to the early mining developments offer a variety of hiking opportunities ranging from short day trips to challenging cross-country routes; for the status of the main access routes, please check the most recent trail report [PDF] .
With the whole park area over 1,500 metres in elevation, visitors should be aware of the highly changeable nature of mountain weather. Snow and sleet are not uncommon in summer, and rainy weather, many times in the form of thunderstorms, can be expected in the spring through autumn.
The heavy snowfall accumulations in the park can be counted upon to ensure excellent ski conditions from late autumn to early spring. Snow can occur in October at all levels in the Park and the higher elevations are not likely to be snow-free until July. Avalanches are prevalent on the open alpine slope, limiting ski touring possibilities to certain routes and to low risk periods.
Persons visiting Kokanee Glacier Park are reminded that this is a wilderness area without supplies or equipment of any kind. Visitors must equip themselves with suitable clothing, hiking boots, a warm sleeping bag, a tent with a waterproof fly, and a Primus-type stove for cooking.
Hikers planning to venture off established trails should have good route-finding abilities that include map reading and compass skills. Only experienced mountaineers with ropes, ice axes, and crampons should attempt traverse routes or venture onto glaciers and snowfields. In the event of an emergency, contact the RCMP. Everyone entering wilderness areas should inform a responsible person of their intentions, including an estimated time of return.
For Woodbury and Silver Spray Cabins, summer only rates (based on per person per night basis) and, a reservation system is in place, as walk-ins are not guaranteed space. Both cabins are closed during winter. This is due to the hut location(s) itself being associated with avalanche hazard (ie. hut location is within an avalanche path).
Kokanee Glacier, Woodbury, and Silver Spray Cabins are maintained and reserved through the Alpine Club of Canada .
For the winter season, from November 1 through to May 31, the occupancy of the Kokanee Glacier Cabin is limited to 12 and availability is offered through a lottery system managed by the Alpine Club of Canada - there is no availability for walk-ins, reservations are required.
The Kokanee Glacier Cabin accommodates up to 20 from June 1 through to October 31; this is the summer operating season. For the summer season, it is recommended that you make reservations if you want to be assured of a bed to sleep in. If the public chooses to walk-in and there are beds available, you can register at that time.
For details about the Woodbury and Silver Spray Cabins, please see the Alpine Club of Canada website.
There are 30 wilderness, hike-in campsites in the park, but no facilities are provided.
Backcountry permits are required for this park.
The BC Parks backcountry permit registration service allows you to pre-pay your overnight fees, where designated. This is an alternate (on-line) way to pre-pay for your backcountry permit and is NOT a reservation, the registration fee allows for overnight camping in back country areas but does not guarantee that a campsite in a specific area will be available.
Kokanee Glacier, Woodbury and Silver Spray Cabins are maintained by the Alpine Club of Canada. For the winter season, the Kokanee Glacier Cabin offers availability through a lottery system. There is no availability for first come, first served use in the winter.
For the summer season, it is recommended that you make reservations for cabins if you want to be assured of a bed to sleep in.
If you choose to arrive without a reservation, and there are beds available, you can register at that time.
More information about summer cabin rates, winter cabin rates, and booking policies can be found one the Alpine Club of Canada website. User fees are payable to the Alpine Club of Canada.
This park has a day-use and picnic area.
This park only has pit toilets; no flush toilets.
There is a boat launch at Gibson Lake. Please be aware that only non-motorized boats are allowed on Gibson Lake.
Kokanee Glacier Park has 85 km of hiking trails. 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. During the winter season, all trails are under snow.
Fishing and angling is popular at Gibson, Kokanee, Kaslo and Tanal Lakes. An an appropriate licence is required.
Ski mountaineering is available. Snowmobiling is prohibited in Kokanee Glacier Park. Users are responsible for their snow stability evaluation (avalanche hazard) route finding, self rescue and first-aid. See General Safety and Ethics for avalanche information. There is Avalanche Terrain Exposure Scale (ATES) mapping available for a portion of Kokanee Glacier Park on the Avalanche Canada webpage. Please refer to Avalanche.ca to assist in winter trip planning.
Kokanee Glacier Park is located in the Selkirk Mountains, between Slocan and Kootenay Lakes. For an update on the access roads into the park check the most recent trail report [PDF] . These roads may not be suitable for low-clearance vehicles:
National Topographic Series Maps 82F/11 and 82F/14, at a scale of 1:50,000, cover the Kokanee Glacier Park area. These maps are available from most map retailers in British Columbia.
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.