Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park is a

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, located in the

Lillooet Country The Lillooet Country, also referred to as the Lillooet District, is a region spanning from the central Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet, British Columbia, Lillooet west to the valley of the Lillooet River, and including the valleys in between, in the ...

region to the northeast of Pemberton and immediately northwest of

Birkenhead Peak Birkenhead Peak, commonly known as Mount Birkenhead and sometimes Birkenhead Mountain or Mount Birken (2506 m (8222 ft) prominence: 1781 m) is a mountain in the Gates Valley region of the Lillooet Country of the South-Central Interior o ...

and

Gates Lake Gates Lake, also known as Birken Lake, Tenass Lake, Halfway Lake, and Summit Lake, is a small lake located at the summit of the Pemberton Portage area of the one-time Lakes Route through the Coast Mountains, located at the summit of a low pass co ...

(a.k.a. Birken Lake) at the community of Birken.

History and conservation

It was established in 1963 to provide a recreation and conservation area between the Pemberton Valley and

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abou ...

and it has 79 vehicle accessible campsites and a lakeside beach area. The park's wildlife includes

mountain goat The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a hoofed mammal endemic to mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to alpine species, it is a sure-footed climber commonly seen on cliffs and ...

black bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

s and

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

s while the lake itself is home to

Rainbow Trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...

and Kokanee. The lake is also home to a protected species of Bull Trout, often mistaken for Dolly Varden.

Location and access

It is located 90 kilometres north-east of Whistler, the last 12 kilometres of which are a non-paved gravel road branching off the main paved from between Mount Currie and D'Arcy via Blackwater Creek, a tributary of the

Gates River The Gates River is a short river in the Lillooet Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Approximately 14.5 km in length, it flows generally northeast from the outlet of Birken Lake (aka Gates Lake or Summit Lake) to it ...

, a few miles northeast of the community of Birken.

Size

Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park is 97.55 km².

External links

Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park
* {{British Columbia parks Provincial parks of British Columbia Sea-to-Sky Corridor Lillooet Country 1963 establishments in British Columbia Protected areas of British Columbia