Ts'yl-os Provincial Park

British Columbia Provincial Park Of About 2,330 Square Kilometres Built Around Chilko Lake, The Largest Natural High Elevation Freshwater Lake In North America; Co Managed With The Xeni Gwet'In And Tsilhqot'In · Williams Lake, British Columbia

CHILKO LAKE IS THE LARGEST NATURAL HIGH-ELEVATION FRESHWATER LAKE IN NORTH AMERICA - about sixty-five kilometres long at eleven hundred and seventy metres, an extraordinary turquoise from glacial flour, with the Coast Mountains rising straight out of the western shore and dry Chilcotin grassland on the eastern. The park around it covers about two thousand three hundred and thirty square kilometres. TS'YL-OS IS THE TSILHQOT'IN NAME FOR THE MOUNTAIN above the lake, and the park is CO-MANAGED WITH THE XENI GWET'IN, whose territory this is and who won the Tsilhqot'in Nation Supreme Court decision in 2014 - the first declaration of Aboriginal title in Canadian history, covering land that includes this country. The CHILKO RIVER carries one of the largest sockeye salmon runs in the Fraser system and one of the longest continuous whitewater stretches in North America. The road in is long and rough.

Chilko Lake, Chilcotin, west of Highway 20, Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada

THE PARK IS OPEN YEAR-ROUND BUT THE PRACTICAL SEASON IS ROUGHLY JUNE TO EARLY OCTOBER. ACCESS IS BY LONG GRAVEL ROADS from Highway 20 - THE APPROACH IS THE HARD PART, several hours of rough unpaved driving with no services, and conditions vary enormously with weather. BC PARKS OPERATES BASIC CAMPGROUNDS on the lake with no reservations and no services beyond pit toilets and picnic tables; BACKCOUNTRY CAMPING IS PERMITTED. THERE IS NO FUEL, NO SHOP AND NO CELL COVERAGE anywhere near the park. THE CHILKO RIVER WHITEWATER IS EXPERT WATER and is run by licensed operators. THIS IS XENI GWET'IN TERRITORY and the park is co-managed with them - respect any posted restrictions and contact the Xeni Gwet'in about travel through their country. Winter access is effectively unavailable.

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