Tsútswecw Park | BC Parks

Highlights in this park

This is a fascinating place to visit at any time of year, but particularly in early October during the run of the Adams River sockeye salmon. The Adams River has one of the largest Sockeye salmon runs in North America.

Audio Files: The Secwepemc name chosen is Tsútswecw Park. The indigenous word “Tsútswecw” (pronounced choo-chwek) translates to ‘many rivers.’ Please listen to the attached linked audio file to learn the proper pronunciation.

How to pronounce Tsútswecw [M4A]

Every fourth year is a “dominant” salmon run, with millions of fish to be seen (2018 and 2022 will be dominant runs). The Adams River Salmon Society coordinate the celebration known as the “Salute to the Sockeye” during the dominant years. The following years are “sub-dominant” runs of sockeye: 2019, 2023. These years often have substantial returns of sockeye and offer excellent viewing opportunities.

During the last three weeks of October in years where there isn’t a “dominant” or “sub-dominant” return, a small number of salmon begin their spawning cycle. The best place to view spawning salmon is the new viewing platform approximately 300 m west of the parking lot.

The Adams River squeezes through a narrow canyon portion of the valley to create spectacular rapids that are enthusiastically used by rafters and kayakers. This park has a beautiful waterfall on Bear Creek that is viewable from the Flume Trail System.

Please note that this park does not offer any camping facilities. The 26 km trail system is used for for hiking and mountain biking in summer and cross country skiing and snowshoeing in winter.

Huihill Creek was recently added to Tsútswecw Park as a result of recommendations made in the Kamloops Land and Resources Management Plan and is now officially a portion of Tsútswecw Park.

Know before you go

Advisories

Safety information

Damage from past flooding, combined with high water levels has made some portions of the river’s banks dangerous. Please use caution along the river.
A popular whitewater rafting and canoeing river, the Adams is very dangerous. Wear life-jackets at all times and exercise extreme caution as there are numerous log-jams and sweepers that are not always visible in advance. Navigation below the bridge is not recommended. Inner tubes and air mattresses are not recommended for travel on the Adams River. Several people have been killed while using these devices.
Poison ivy grows along dry, exposed sloped in this area. Do not touch! The plant can be identified by glossy green leaves in groups of three, with white berries close to the stem. The leaves turn scarlet in autumn and then fall off. Poison ivy is harmful at all times of the year.
The trails in the lower portion of the park are near the river and subject to flooding each spring. As a result, trail maps may be inaccurate and caution should be taken along the river banks.
Due to shallow and swift flowing, cold water and hidden undersurface hazards, swimming, diving and cliff jumping is highly discouraged on the Adams River or near the Adams River Gorge.
Please be advised not to leave any valuables in your vehicles while hiking the trails, there have been a number of vehicles related break-in within the Shuswap area.

Special notes

Keep all dogs out of the water! Ensure that nothing harasses the fish. They are extremely sensitive to any kind of disturbance, and dogs are perceived as a particular threat.
During the Salute to the Sockeye festival, there is treated drinking water provided on site. The water from the river is not drinkable.

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 Location [PDF] (Updated June 2018)
Trail Map [PDF] (Updated September 2018)
Brochure [PDF] (Updated September 2018)

Getting there

The park is located on both sides of the Adams River, between Adams Lake and Shuswap Lake. The entrance to Tsútswecw Provincial Park is 5 km from Squilax on the Squilax-Anglemont Highway. To get to the Main parking lot and Information area, once at the intersection of Squilax and the TransCanada Highway, head north on the Squilax-Anglemont Road for approximately 5.4 km, watch for roadside signage.

Scotch Creek, Sorrento, Salmon Arm, Kamloops and Chase are the closest communities to this park.

Things to do

Hiking

Hike the 26 km of trails named the Lower, Wade Road, and Flume 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.

Lower Trail System

The Lower Trail System provides access to the viewing areas during the salmon runs and encompasses all the trails south-east of the Squilax-Anglemont Road.

Cottonwoods Trail: Follows the easterly bank of the river for about 3.5 km linking the river mouth with the main parking lot and the viewing platform with the highway bridge.
Island Loop: Approximately 1.5 km loop around a small island by river channel. This channel is dry during the winter months but provides one of the most appealing salmon viewing areas.
Phil Rexin Memorial Trail: Approximately 1.5 km trail that takes you from the main parking area to the river-mouth parking area or the top of the groundwater spawning channel. In summer it offers a shaded cooler experience through a mixed forest.

Wade Road and Flume Trail System

The Wade Road and Flume Trails encompass all of the trails north of the Squilax-Anglemont Road. These trails offer an impressive array of human and natural history, scenic beauty and distinctive trail structures.

Packer Trail: Traverse attractive, dry forest well above the river following an old horse packer’s trail for most of its length.
Adams Trail: The trail starts out as an old road and turns into a trail at the canyon area. The trail follows Adams River for the most part until it ends at Gold Creek. The trail is linked with the Packer Trail at the power line, permitting a loop to be made back to the old road.
Historic Flume: This trail follows a historic log flume. There are also five unique bridges and the impressive Bear Creek Falls on this scenic and interesting route. This trail is not accessible from Adams Trail. Bikes are not permitted in this area.

Canyon and Canyon Pool

A favourite area on the Adams Trail for anglers and picnickers. It is also an exciting area to view rafters and kayakers as they test their skills through the canyon section of the river. Below the canyon is a large pool with a sandy beach. Bikes are not permitted in this areas.

Diving is prohibited due to hazardous underwater obstacles. People have been seriously injured and even killed while diving in the Adam’s River.

Canoeing

Professionally guided whitewater rafting as well as whitewater canoeing and kayaking take place on the Adams River. Life jackets and helmets should be worn at all times while on the river. This river has dangerous sections that include numerous sweepers and log jams that are not always visible in advance. Always exercise extreme caution. Navigation below the Adams River bridge is not recommended.

Kayaking

Fishing

Angling for rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and white fish is a popular activity. Productive sites include the canyon and the river mouth. Single barbless hook catch and release only.

The Adams River is closed to salmon fishing. Please note that there are special regulations for the Adams River.

Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.

Wildlife viewing

There are excellent opportunities to view salmon from the viewing platform and trails on the lower trail system. The Wade Road Trail System offers a great view of the river canyon and the rafters and kayakers that navigate it.

Pets on leash

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. Please keep dogs out of the water. The salmon are extremely sensitive to any kind of disturbance, and dogs are perceived as a particular threat.

Cycling

Bicycles must keep to existing roadways and trails. Bicycle helmets are mandatory in British Columbia. Bikes are not permitted in the canyon area of the Wade Road Trails, and in the “Flume Trails.” Both the upper and lower Flume Trails are closed to biking due to visitor safety concerns, physical geography and trail design. Please refer to park maps for restricted areas.

Please note that bicycles with electric assist motors (e-bikes) are not allowed on the trails within Tsútswecw 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.

Winter recreation

Many of this parks trails are suitable for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months. The trails are not maintained in the winter months.

Facilities

Accessibility information

Accessibility information is available for these areas of the park:

Picnic areas

There are picnic tables located approximately 100 m west of the main parking lot next to the new Salute Plaza and viewing platform.

Pit or flush toilets

This park only has pit toilets, no flush toilets. There is a wheelchair-accessible pit toilet located near the Salute Plaza on the main viewing platform trail, 75 m west of the Salmon Society log cabin. Please refer to park map for the pit toilet location.

About this park

Cultural Heritage

Tsútswecw Park encompasses a river-eroded landscape with a variety of cultural heritage sites. Archaeological studies of the area have uncovered evidence of large settlements. Home to the Shuswap people, kekulis (pit houses), artifacts and pictographs can be seen in the area and are strictly protected.

History

The park was established in 1977 to conserve and protect the spawning beds used by various species of salmon. Pictographs on the canyon walls indicate the presence of people long before the Europeans. An historic flume for floating logs to the Adams River from Skmana Lake dates back to the early part of this century. Some of the original timbers that supported the flume are still in place. Adams Lake Lumber (Interfor) employees re-constructed a portion of flume to the original design. It can be viewed above the first bridge in the Huihill trail system. (currently closed, see note above)

Between 1976 and 1986, 46.9 hectares (116 acres) of land along the Adams River was acquired and protected by The Nature Trust of British Columbia, a leading land conservation organization. These properties are still under long-term lease to the BC Ministry of Environment. Though originally named after Roderick Haig-Brown (1908-1976) the conservationist, in 2018, the park was renamed at the request of the Little Shuswap Indian Band to reflect ancestral connections. The new name, "Tsútswecw," is the traditional Secwepemc name, and translates to "many rivers.

Conservation

The park encompasses the spawning beds of the sockeye, chinook, coho and pink salmon. The wooded area surrounding the river contains a natural assortment of trees including the Douglas fir, cottonwood, birch, alder, ponderosa pine, hemlock and cedar. The park is also home to numerous forms of birds and mammals including whitetail and mule deer, black bears, beaver, river otter, mink, bald eagles and osprey.

Visitors in October, 2018 and every fourth year following will marvel at the spectacle of two million sockeye salmon spawning in the Adams River. For more information, visit the Adams River Salmon Society. The year after each large run is also worth a visit as over 300,000 fish return.

Wildlife

Wildlife is abundant in this riverside area, and includes whitetail and mule deer, black bear, beaver, river otter, and mink. During the salmon run, eagles are often seen.

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.

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