Okanagan. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Safety information
- Campers must be prepared for extreme weather changes while camping and hiking in the subalpine areas of the park. Subzero temperatures are common.
- Please be aware that active logging occurs along Spectrum Creek Forest Service Road (FSR). Park users driving to the Spectrum Lake trailhead can expect to encounter logging trucks along this access, as well as Sugar Lake FSR. Log sorting activities on the Spectrum Creek FSR has impacted the road and low clearance vehicles may have issues crossing the sorting area.
Special notes
- Dogs are not permitted in this park due to potential conflict with red-listed Mountain Caribou.
- Fires are not permitted outside of the Spectrum Lake campground.
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
Getting there
Located 111 km north of Vernon. Take Highway 97 to Vernon, then go east on Highway 6 from Vernon for 47 km, through Lumby to Cherryville. Turn north onto Sugar Lake Road and proceed 46 km until you reach the turnoff (km marker #22) to the park. Proceed on Spectrum Creek Road for 16 km to the park.
An alternative access to the park is from the Arrow Lakes side. Follow highway 23 south from Revelstoke to Shelter Bay Forest Service Road (FSR) and turn right. This active logging road is steep and narrow in sections. Follow the Sol Mountain Lodge signs. At kilometre 35 turn right onto North Fosthall Creek FSR, keeping right, for approximately 17 km. The North Fosthall Creek trail starts at the end of the road. The trail may not be well defined and is not regularly maintained. This access should be attempted by experienced backcountry travelers only. The majority of this road access is maintained by Sol Mountain Lodge.
Camping
Backcountry camping
Backcountry camping is available at four locations: Spectrum Lake, Little Peters Lake, Big Peters Lake, and Margie Lake. The backcountry camping fee is in effect at these locations.
Backcountry camping fee: $5 per person per night (age 6+)
The BC Parks backcountry permit registration service allows you to purchase a backcountry camping permit before leaving home. Although this does not reserve a campsite, it provides the convenience of prepaying for your trip and not having to carry cash. We encourage all visitors to register online so we can reduce the need to collect fees in the field.
Spectrum Lake, the largest campground in the park, is 6 km from the Spectrum Creek trailhead and parking lot. There are 16 sites spread out along the lakeshore and up-slope. Each site has a 10 ft x 10 ft wooden tent platform or framed earth pad, a fire ring, and a picnic table. Some sites also have a small wooden shelter with cedar shake roof over the picnic table. There are several of pit toilets.
Spectrum Lake provides a great introduction to the backcountry experience for less experienced campers. The understory is sparse, with most of the ground carpeted by moss. A metal food cache pole is located at each end of the campground.
5 km uphill from Spectrum Lake, or 11 km from the Spectrum Creek trailhead and parking lot, Little Peters Lake is a much smaller backcountry campground. Two framed-earth tent pads and a pit toilet are provided for those who choose the edge of the sub-alpine meadow as their overnight stop.
Big Peters Lake is the largest campground in the sub-alpine, located 13 km from the Spectrum Creek trailhead and parking lot, or 4km from Little Peters. There are 10 wooden tent platforms or framed-earth pads spread out amongst the trees on the southern end of the lake. There is a bear pole and a pit toilet.
The surrounding area is mostly open meadows and wetlands with large pockets of Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir. Big Peters campground affords a staging area for those interested in exploring the alpine areas of the park including Mt. Fosthall, Fawn Lake, and Valley of the Moon.
Margie Lake, a further 5 km from Big Peters Lake, is the final campground in the subalpine area of the park. It features four framed-earth tent pads and a pit toilet. Margie Lake is often used by those hiking over the Fosthall ridge from Sol Mountain Lodge, or up the North Fosthall Creek trail.
When visiting the backcountry, always follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. To learn more about staying safe in the backcountry, read our backcountry guide.
Backcountry areas
Group camping
Spectrum Lake group campsite is found approximately 100 m from the main campground, on the northeast side of the lake. There are six tent pads as well as a pit toilet. Visitors will find a large, covered picnic table shelter offering a place to keep dry, though it does not have a stove. This area is in a thick cedar forest with a meandering stream running through.
Use of these facilities is on a first come, first serve basis. Reservations are not accepted.
Wilderness camping
Wilderness camping is permitted in other areas of the park without a backcountry permit. Campers must practice Leave no trace ethics. The park is open year-round, if accessible.
When visiting the backcountry, always follow Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. To learn more about staying safe in the backcountry, read our backcountry guide.
Things to do
This undeveloped mountain wilderness is a wonderful adventure for experienced, backcountry hikers. There are also trails for beginners. 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.
Trails to Spectrum Lake Area (all trail times are one way)
Spectrum Creek Parking Lot
| Distance: 6 km | Time: 2 hours | Rating: Easy |
This is the most common access. The trail surface has been improved, widened to three feet and hardpacked for most of its length. There are well maintained boardwalks and bridges across streams and wet areas. It passes through a mixed forest of Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, birch and some cedar and hemlock. Mountain bikes are not permitted.
Trails to Alpine Areas (from Spectrum Lake)
Little Peters Trail
| Distance: 5 km | Time: 3 to 4 hours | Rating: Difficult |
This is the most difficult section of trail in the park. It winds its way up out of the Spectrum Lake basin gaining elevation rapidly through steep switchbacks. The trail is narrow and passes through sections of very rocky terrain found in avalanche chutes that are thick with alder. These sections can be slippery when wet and require caution. The climb does allow for some great views back down to Spectrum Lake and of the Chute, which is the outlet for Peters Lake that forms a waterfall as it cascades down the headwall towards Spectrum Lake far below.
Big Peters Trail
| Distance: 9 km | Time: 4 to 5 hours | Rating: Difficult | Note: Elevation change 800 m |
This is a continuation of the Little Peters Trail to the camping area at the other end of Peters Lake. The bulk of the elevation has been gained upon reaching Little Peters Lake and the remainder of the trail follows the rolling subalpine terrain through patches Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forest on the southeast side of Big Peters Lake.
Alpine Routes (from Big Peters)
These routes for experienced hikers are not always well defined. Map reading skills are an asset.
| Margie Lake | Distance: 5 km | Time: 1.5 to 2 hours | Rating: Easy | |
| Fawn Lake | Distance: 4 km | Time: 1.5 to 2 hours | Rating: Moderate | Note: Elevation change 300 m |
| South Caribou Pass | Distance: 3 km | Time: 1.5 to 2 hours | Rating: Difficult | |
| Mount Fosthall | Distance: 5.2 km | Time: 3 to 4 hours | Rating: Difficult | Note: Elevation change 1000 m, technical equipment may be required |
Visitors can enjoy fishing for rainbow trout. Peters Lake has numerous fish though they are generally smaller than those found in Spectrum Lake.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
There are two viewing platforms at Rainbow Falls.
One is found extended out over Spectrum Creek just downstream from the falls to give visitors a beautiful, unobstructed view of the entire falls. The second platform is perched on the rocks nearer the falls bringing the visitor closer to the enormous power of the rushing water. Spray from the falls drifts over both platforms to feed the mossy forest below. The platforms may be slippery if wet.
Lucky visitors may get a glimpse of the rare mountain caribou or wolverine or the much more common mule deer, ground squirrels and pikas.
Mount Fosthall and Slate Mountain offer climbing and scrambling opportunities.
Facilities
Campfires are permitted within fire rings at Spectrum Lake campground only.
Bring a portable stove for cooking. You can conserve firewood and air quality by keeping your campfire small.
To preserve vegetation and ground cover, please don’t gather firewood from the area around your campsite or elsewhere in the park. Dead wood is an important habitat element for many plants and animals and it adds organic matter to the soil.
Campfire bans may be in place. Before lighting a fire, check for bans or restrictions on BC Wildfire Service and on local or Indigenous government websites.
This park has a day-use and picnic area at Rainbow Falls. There is a 15 car gravel parking lot with one pit toilet and an information shelter beside the trail to Spectrum Lake.
The other trail leaving the parking lot is a steep, well defined trail that leads down to the falls. Wet areas are covered with boardwalk and footbridges. There are no picnic tables at the falls or in the parking lot. There are two wooden viewing platforms below the falls offering a spectacular view.
There are three pit toilets at Spectrum Lake campground, one at the Spectrum Lake group site, and one pit toilet each at Little Peters, Big Peters and Margie Lake campgrounds. There is also one at the Spectrum Creek trailhead.
About this park
The Monashee’s peaks reach elevations of 3000 metres and the bases are cloaked in dense vegetation. Hiking the low elevations can be difficult as the forest floor is comprised of clusters of devil’s club and nettles, but rewarding with groves of old-growth cedar, spruce and hemlock. Traversing upward, the distinctive alpine region unfolds with an array of wildflowers, heathers, mosses and lichens.
The Protected Area protects flood plain to alpine. It also protects critical habitat of caribou and ensures continuance of their migration corridors. The area around Rainbow Falls and the riparian zone along a section of the upper Shuswap River are also protected.
The cool summer temperatures and abundant vegetation provide ideal habitat a variety of wildlife. The park is home to one red-listed bird species, the Northern Goshawk, and two red-listed mammals, the wolverine and mountain caribou. As well as endangered species, the area also boasts moose, mule deer, mountain goat, marten, cougar, black bear, blue-listed grizzly bear and Townsend’s big-eared bat.
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
| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
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