Clearwater Lake, Wells Gray Provincial Park

Clearwater Lake is one of six large lakes in

Wells Gray Provincial Park Wells Gray Provincial Park is a large wilderness park located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. The park protects most of the southern, and highest, regions of the Cariboo Mountains and covers 5,250 square kilometres (524,990 hectares or ...

in east-central British Columbia, Canada,. The Clearwater River enters the lake at its north end, flowing from

Hobson Lake Hobson Lake is the uppermost lake on the Clearwater River in east-central British Columbia, Canada. Hobson Lake is one of the six major lakes in Wells Gray Provincial Park.Neave, Roland (2023). ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'', 7th edition. Wells Gr ...

and

Azure Lake Azure Lake is a fjord-like lake located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is an expansion of the Azure River which rises from an unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains. The outflow is also called the Azure River, but it is only long ...

, and also drains the lake. There are several small streams that flow into Clearwater Lake, but it has no significant tributaries.Neave, Roland (2015). ''Exploring Wells Gray Park'', 6th edition. Wells Gray Tours, Kamloops, BC. .

Formation

The basin occupied by Clearwater Lake was scoured by glaciers during several ice ages, including the Wisconsin Ice Age which ended in this region about 10,000 years ago. The basin subsequently filled with meltwater, but its depth has never been measured reliably. The deepest point is believed to be just east of Diver's Bluff. When

Dragon Cone Dragon Cone is a monogenetic cinder cone located in Wells Gray Provincial Park in east-central British Columbia. It is the source of a long lava flow, called Dragon's Tongue. This lava covered the floor of narrow Falls Creek Valley and terminate ...

erupted about 8,500 years ago, the lava flowed southwest to the Clearwater River, damming it to a height of and raising the level of existing Clearwater Lake just upstream. This flow is just one example of volcanic activity that has occurred in the

Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field The Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field, also called the Clearwater Cone Group, is a potentially active monogenetic volcanic field in east-central British Columbia, Canada, located approximately north of Kamloops. It is situated in the Carib ...

during the last 500,000 years.Hickson, Cathie with Hollinger, Jason (2014). ''Wells Gray Rocks''. Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC Osprey Falls occurs where the Clearwater River empties out of Clearwater Lake. The waterfall is the height of the lava dam, but is over wide along an L-shaped brink. Osprey Falls is very hazardous to boaters on Clearwater Lake because of the strong current in the southern . Up to 2003, 18 people had been swept over Osprey Falls and only three survived. Clearwater Lake Garnet Peak

Access and trails

The Clearwater Valley Road (also called Wells Gray Park Road) ends at Clearwater Lake. Wells Gray Park's largest campgrounds, Clearwater Lake and Falls Creek, are adjacent to Osprey Falls and have 80 sites total. Lake tours and a water taxi service operate from near the campgrounds. The public boat launching ramp is further up the lake. A trail follows the lakeshore from the water taxi dock to the public boat launch. It continues for , then climbs away from the lake to a viewpoint above the Easter Bluffs. At the north end of Clearwater Lake, a portage trail provides access for canoeists and kayakers to nearby

. The

trail also starts here and is long; it is a rigorous trail and hikers must ford Lickskillet Creek above Sundt Falls as the bridge washed out in 1998. Some older maps show a trail to Azure and Zodiac Mountains from the east shore of Clearwater Lake, but this trail is no longer passable. Seven campgrounds with a few sites at each are located along the east and west shores of Clearwater Lake. The only access is by boat.

Naming

The Overlanders expedition to the Cariboo goldfields rafted down the

North Thompson River The North Thompson River is the northern branch of the Thompson River, the largest tributary of the Fraser River, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates at the toe of the Thompson Glacier in the Premier Range of the Cariboo ...

in 1862. When they arrived at the mouth of the Clearwater River, they noted its distinct clarity compared to the muddy North Thompson and named it Clear Water. The lake was probably seen by white prospectors in 1866 and the river's name was extended to the lake.

References

External links

Wells Gray Provincial Park official government website
{{authority control Lakes of British Columbia Wells Gray-Clearwater Lava dammed lakes Kamloops Division Yale Land District