Tweedsmuir Park (North)

Stay Safe

• Caution should be exercised when travelling on waters in the Nechako Reservoir and those in the park. Windstorms may arise very quickly and become quite severe for multiple days. May is usually the windiest month. Strong winds can be expected for about one-third of the time during the boating season. No attempt should be made to travel long distances or venture far from the shoreline of the reservoir in canoes, kayaks or car-top boats.
• The Musclow Lake Trail as shown on various park maps is not currently maintained.
• Suitable clothing must be worn and proper equipment for outdoor living carried. Visitors should have appropriate maps. All arrangements for supplies, including gasoline for boats, must be made before entering the park.
• At all times, be alert for deadheads, submerged trees and unmarked reefs.

Special Notes

• As of November 12, 2014: The Pondosy Lake campsite facilities have been removed from the park.
• Winching services at the Chikamin Bay Rail Portage are open from June 15 to September 7, winching from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. Low water conditions in August and September may prevent larger vessels from using the rail portage. Contact the Smithers BC Parks office if there are concerns or questions.
• The northern portion of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park is a wilderness area. Visitors must be prepared to be completely self-sufficient. There are no supplies of any kind.
• Parts of the park are open to hunting in the fall. Hunters must be in possession of a valid BC hunting licence and appropriate game tags and observe the current BC Hunting Regulations. Non-residents must be accompanied by a licenced BC guide. Firearms are prohibited in the park except during a valid hunting season.

Park Fees

• Only cash payments can be accepted.
• There is a backcountry fee for visitors to the Eutsuk Lake area of Tweedsmuir Park: 
  Marine Access Camping Fee: $50.00 per vessel/aircraft per trip
• Chikamin Bay Rail Portage:
  • To get from Chikamin Bay on Whitesail Lake to St. Thomas Bay on Eutsuk Lake in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, boaters are required to winch their boats over a 600 metre rail portage. Boats to about 7 metres in length can be portaged. There are two options for getting across the portage:
    • Visitors can pay the Park Operator to tow their boat across at a cost of $50.00 per vessel each way. This service is available daily from June 15 to September 7, 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. The funds are payable directly to the on-site park operator (only cash is accepted).
    • Visitors can use either the hand winches provided on site or bring their personal chainsaw winch to get themselves across the portage. Instructions are posted at Chikamin Bay and the process can take two hours or more. There is no portaging fee for self-portaging but the $50 Marine Access Camping Fee still applies.
• The fees are used to assist in the management of Tweedsmuir Provincial Park.
• Fees example: (1 boat with 4 persons winched in and out of Eutsuk Lake via Chikamin Bay rail portage)
  • Backcountry fee $50.00
  • Mechanical winching fee (into park) $50.00
  • Mechanical winching fee (out of park) $50.00
    • Total Payable = $150.00

History

Tweedsmuir Provincial Park was established May 21, 1938. The park was named for the 15th Governor General of Canada, John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield. The Governor General traveled extensively by float plane and horseback in the park during August of 1937 and he and his party were greatly impressed by its magnificence.

Cultural heritage

Eutsuk Lake, located within the park, derives its name from the Ulkatcho Carrier dialect and is the focal point of the water-oriented activities of North Tweedsmuir Park. A number of waterways owe their names to Father Adrien Gabriel Morice, who surveyed the area in the late 19th century producing accurate, detailed maps.

Conservation

The northern section of Tweedsmuir Park is almost entirely pristine wilderness. The lake-and-waterway-dotted Nechako Plateau, a division of the vast Interior Plateau, forms most of the northern region with the Quanchus Mountain Range, dominated by Mount Wells and Tweedsmuir, Michel, Wells Gray and Eutsuk Peaks, all more than 1900 metres in height, covering much of its central area. Lower elevations are forested for the most part with lodgepole pine mixed with some white spruce. Mountain slopes to the timberline, at approximately 1525 metre elevation, are covered with subalpine (balsam) fir and Engelmann spruce. Interspersed throughout are natural grass clearings and black spruce dominated boggy areas.

Wildlife

Wildlife is widespread and fairly prevalent. In summer and fall woodland caribou frequent the slopes of the Quanchus and Chikamin Mountain Ranges. In other areas mountain goats, mule deer, moose, black bear, grizzly bear and wolves are in evidence.  

Visitors to the alpine meadows often see smaller mammals such as hoary marmots, wolverines, and Siberian lemmings as well as various bird species, including willow ptarmigans, gray-crowned rosy finches and golden-crowned sparrows.  

Elsewhere members of the grouse family occur in considerable numbers and waterfowl are usually plentiful in the swamps and ponds. Around the Nechako Reservoir, dead trees provide nesting sites for fish-hunting ospreys.
 

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.