Appreciate the Life-Giving Properties of Water
To the First Nations of the area, water has always been a great connector, weaving together trade routes, harvesting sites, important cultural sites, and communities. The relationship between First Nations communities and water transcends recreation: it is essential to their well-being, identity, and sovereignty. For visitors, these waterscapes are an invitation to put down your paddle and move in tune with a slower rhythm. A leisurely road trip through the Lakes District is one way to reap the mood-boosting benefits of slow travel as you visit peaceful lakeside rest stops.
Where there is water, there is life. Here, the lakes, rivers and ponds teem with Dolly Varden and salmon, and wetlands provide vital habitats for waterfowl and shorebirds, and underwater forests of aquatic plants thrive—critical vegetation that works overtime to help filter out carbon dioxide, provide refuge and food for fish, and reduce shoreline erosion. From fish spawning channels to wetlands, you’ll find diverse flora and fauna around every riverbend and stretch of shoreline.
Come fall, the area’s rivers swell with hundreds of bright red salmon as they fight their way upstream, while nearby North Tweedsmuir Provincial Park is one of the best places in BC to see grizzlies roam riverbanks in search of their next meal. A visit to Fraser Lake is shared with more than 1,000 trumpeter swans who flock here on their migratory routes while Fulton River in Granisle is home to world’s largest manmade spawning channels.