Park overview
Situated on the south-west shore of beautiful Stuart Lake, Paarens Beach is a delightfully small provincial park that few people outside of the area seem to know about.
A large day-use area is located on a lengthy stretch of wide sandy beach. Change houses, abundant picnic tables, a playground for the kids and a log picnic shelter are all available to help you enjoy leisurely summer days.
With an uncrowded campground, large beach and boat launch, it is an ideal base from which to enjoy the multitude of recreational opportunities around Stuart Lake and to explore the rich history the nearby community of Fort St. James. The Fort St James Visitor Info Centre can provide the visitor with maps, directions and information on things to do and see in and around the community.
There are close to twenty lodges and resorts on various lakes or rivers, canoeing opportunities on the Nation Lakes Chain (there is an Arctic grayling catch and release fishery here!), and houseboats available on Takla Lake.
Stuart Lake, one of the largest natural lakes in the province at about 70 kilometres long, is the southernmost in a chain of three lakes. The Stuart-Takla chain includes Stuart Lake, the Tachie River, Trembleur Lake, the Middle River, which has been designated a Provincial Heritage River, and finally the remote and spectacular Takla Lake. Takla is the fifth largest natural lake in the province at close to 90 kilometres in length.
Advisories
Dates of operation
Park status:
Open
The park gate is open May 15, 2023 to September 17, 2023
- Facility type
- Vehicle-accessible camping
- Number of campsites
- Reservable frontcountry sites: 20
- Vehicle-accessible sites: 39
- Walk-in sites: 3
- Main operating season
- 2023: May 15 to September 17
- Winter season
- No services
- Booking required
- 2023: May 19 to September 16
- Winter season note
- Gate is closed during the off-season.
Safety info
- Boaters are cautioned to keep a close eye on the weather as Stuart Lake is subject to sudden heavy winds which can transform the lake surface into dangerous whitecaps.
- For safety reasons, firearms are not permitted in the park. Paarens Beach Park is closed to hunting.
Special notes
- Help protect the park land. Enjoy Paarens Beach Park but please leave it as you have found it so that future visitors may also enjoy the park.
- No alcohol is allowed on the beach or in the day-use area.
Camping
Campsite reservations are accepted and first come, first served sites are also available.
All campsite reservations must be made the BC Parks reservations system. When reservations are not available all campsites function as first come, first served.
Each of the campsites at Paarens Beach has a picnic table and fire ring. Campsite reservations are accepted and first come, first served sites are also available. Long stay camping is available for the full season. Please contact the park operator for information and to book one of these sites.
| Vehicle-accessible camping fee | $22 per party per night |
| BC seniors’ rate (day after Labour Day to June 14 only) | $11 per senior party per night |
| Long-stay camping | $90 per week |
For information on the BC seniors’ rate, see the camping fees page. Information on long-stay camping is available on the Frontcountry Camping webpage.
Facilities
Accessibility information is available for this park.
There is a playground with accessible features in the day-use and picnic area.
A concrete boat launch is located at the south end of the park. The park’s boat launch opens up for you the renowned fishing of the whole Stuart-Trembleur-Takla Lake chain, 180km of some of the finest rainbow fishing in the province.
While 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. Limited burning hours or campfire bans may be implemented.
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.
This park has a day-use and picnic area with picnic table tables, a playground, a change house and a log picnic shelter with tables and a wood stove.
At 70 kilometres in length, Stuart Lake has a lot of shoreline to explore. Visitors will find a large sandy beach and a roped-off swimming area for all to enjoy. There is also plenty of room for water sports with eight hundred metres of beachfront.
There are horsehsoe pitches, a volleyball net, and play equipment for kids, located in the grass field across from the beach.
This park only has pit toilets, no flush toilets.
Activities
Visitors can enjoy excellent hiking trails in this area and the splendid view of Stuart Lake from the top of Mount Pope, just northwest of the village of Fort St. James. 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.
Mount Pope
Undoubtedly the most popular hiking destination in the area is Mount Pope. From the 1472 metre summit the panoramic view of Fort St. James, Stuart Lake, and the snow-capped Omineca Mountains to the north is unbeatable. Although the first part is relatively steep (climbing 300 metres in elevation), the overall slope is roughly 13% with periodic viewpoints along the way. The entire elevation gain of the six kilometre trail is 791 metres. Allow four to six hours for the return trip.
The original trail was first established by the Carrier Indians. The local band would keep sentries on the mountain to watch the north end of Stuart Lake for war parties coming down from Babine Lake. According to Carrier legend a tribe of little people once lived in the mountain. After killing them all off in a war, the Carrier would offer gifts of salmon to the ghosts of the little people to ensure abundant salmon runs would continue.
The mountain is named after Major Franklin L Pope. In 1865, while surveying a route for the Overland Telegraph to Siberia, Pope was separated from his Carrier guides and spent the night alone on the mountain.
Tulle Lake
Another interesting hike in the Fort St. James area is the Tulle Lake trail network featuring 15 kilometres of interconnecting trail to three lakes with good fishing and wildlife viewing opportunities. For the extremely energetic hiker with extra time to spend the historic Nautley/Sowchea Pack Trail intersects the Tulle Lake trail system. This 45 kilometre trail was used for generations as an early trade route between villages on Fraser and Stuart lakes.
The relative flat of the Nechako Plateau gives way to the rolling hills around Fort St. James. Mount Pope (1472 metres) overlooks Stuart Lake to the west and signals the beginning of the Omineca Mountains rising to the north.
There are opportunities for canoeing or kayaking in this park. However, boaters are cautioned to keep a close eye on the weather as Stuart Lake is subject to sudden heavy winds that can transform the lake surface into dangerous whitecaps.
Part of the Fraser River watershed, the Stuart-Takla chain of waterways is famous for its fishing. Twenty pound rainbow trout, lake char, and dolly varden can all be taken from Stuart Lake. Ling cod (burbot) and kokanee are also popular. A 27 pound rainbow and a 35 pound char have been reported out of Takla Lake as well. There are many smaller lakes within an hours drive of Fort St. James holding rainbow, whitefish, char, or kokanee. Anyone fishing or angling in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence.
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.
Although Paarens Beach does not have any mountain biking opportunities within the park, the sport is gaining in popularity around the Fort St. James area. A small handout is available locally which can direct you to several popular mountain bike routes. Ask about the Whitefish Bay or Teardrop Road circuits.
For the adventuresome biker the historic Nautley/Sowchea Pack Trail has recently been opened up. This 45 kilometre trail was used for generations as an early trade route between villages on Fraser and Stuart Lakes.
Please note that bicycles with electric assist motors (e-bikes) are not allowed on the trails within Paarens Beach Park. E-bikes are restricted to park roads and areas where motorized use is permitted. The only exception to this policy will be for authorized and identified trail maintenance bikes conducting work on behalf of BC Parks.
With a 70km long lake and a good boat launch in the park, there are excellent waterskiing opportunities.
Windsurfing is becoming very popular in this park with the 70km long lake.
Paarens Beach is located less than a two hour drive northwest of Prince George on the south shore of Stuart Lake and about 11 kilometres from the community of Fort St. James. From Prince George take Highway #16 west one hundred kilometres to Vanderhoof, at which point it is another 54 kilometres north on Highway #27.
Park and activity maps
Learn more about this park
Park details
- Date established: May 8, 1972
- Size: 50 hectares
Park contact
This park proudly operated by:
Quartz Contracting
northquartz@aol.com
250 964-3489
Nature and culture
History
Paarens Beach is an ideal base from which to explore the rich heritage of the area. Only minutes away in Fort St. James you can visit Fort St. James National Historic Site. This fully restored Hudson’s Bay Company Post commemorates the partnership between the fur traders and First Nations People. It is the largest group of original wooden buildings representing the fur trade in Canada.
The Stuart Lake Post was founded in 1806 because of the fur trade. Through the 1800s, the area went through several phases with the arrival of the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821, the changing of its name to Fort St. James in 1822, and the settlement saw its importance as a fur trading centre diminish in 1869 when gold was discovered 100 miles north in the Omineca Valley. With the miners came a new role and economic prosperity for Fort St. James and it remained a hub of activity into the 1900s. Today the area is driven by forestry and tourism.
Upon arrival you will receive a warm welcome at the modern visitor centre where you can watch a presentation in the theatre, roam around the display room and step back in time with a walk out to the old Hudson’s Bay Company Post. Here you will meet costumed interpreters working in the garden, see Carrier people practising ancient arts such as canoe building, hide tanning and the drying and smoking of salmon. Before heading home, relax and enjoy a snack or lunch at the Old Fort Cafe, an open-air log building with picnic tables.
The Indigenous name for the site of present-day Fort St. James is Na-’Kra-ztli which means “arrows floating by”. Although settled by Europeans almost 200 years ago (Fort St. James is said to be the oldest established community in British Columbia) Indigenous peoples had inhabited the area for years prior. These people became known as the “Carrier”, referring to the custom of widows who carried the ashes of cremated husbands on their backs until a traditional potlach could be held.
Another site of historical interest is Our Lady of Good Hope Church. It was built in 1878, is the third oldest church in the province, and remained in regular use until 1951. Visitors can still attend a weekly mass at the historic church in the summer months.
Conservation
Stuart Lake, one of the largest natural lakes in the province at about 70 kilometres long, is the southernmost in a chain of three lakes. The Stuart-Takla chain includes Stuart Lake, the Tachie River, Trembleur Lake, the Middle River, which has been designated a Provincial Heritage River, and finally the remote and spectacular Takla Lake. Takla is the fifth largest natural lake in the province at close to 90 kilometres in length.
Stuart Lake is drained by the Stuart River which joins the Nechako River near Vanderhoof. The Nechako connects to the main body of the Fraser River in Prince George. The Stuart-Takla river system produces provincially significant salmon runs of sockeye and chinook. This lake system also provides excellent fishing for rainbow trout, lake char, dolly varden, and kokanee.
Wildlife
The diverse terrain and vegetation types in the Fort St. James area maintains abundant wildlife. Moose and black bear are plentiful. Other lesser-seen species include mule and white-tail deer, wolf, and grizzly bear. Fur-bearers include the lynx, beaver, mink, marten, fisher, otter and wolverine.
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.