Turner Lakes Canoe Route. 4-7 days. FW. Portaging. Central BC.

Turner Lakes Canoe Route

Full blog with pictures here:  https://northernwaters.shutterfly.com/turnerlakes
 

Turner Lakes Canoe Circuit is perhaps the most well-known canoe route in B.C., after the Bowron Lakes. It is located in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park which is west of Williams Lake (some 700km or so from Vancouver). Getting to the circuit is part of the adventure. You can hike in a long, long way up a through a prime grizzly bear feeding area (lol) or take a float plane from Nimpo Lake. We took the plane and this was a big adventure for the kids. The lake circuit itself goes through beautiful scenery and the lakes are smallish (relatively). We took a 2-day side trip up to Ptarmigan Lake and the alpine zone, and that was really spectacular.  The hike to the alpine zone starts at the end of Turner Lake; you'll need at least 2 days but 3 days is better for the hike.  Also the 30min hike to Hunlen Falls from the end of Turner Lake is jaw-dropping.

Logistics
Getting there  We used Tweedsmuir Air Services (http://www.tweedsmuirair.com) for the flight from Nimpo Lake to Turner Lake and for the canoe rental (at Turner Lake).  It's a beautiful 15min or so flight.  We drove to Nimpo from Bella Coola after taking the ferry up from Vancouver Island.

Canoes  Tweedsmuir Air has canoes at Turner Lake.  We rented from them.

Camping  There are established campsites with bear bins and fire rings.  Tweedsmuir Air also rents two cabins on Turner Lake.

Dogs Allowed.  Allowed on the plane too.

Bears Definitely. Though you avoid most of them by flying in.

Maps See the pictures.  The map you can download on line is all you need.  If you head to the alpine area, you'll probably want a topo for that area.