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Shuswap
Lake
Shuswap Lake Provincial Park is located approximately 61 km (38
miles) north-west of Salmon
Arm and 86 km (54 miles) north-east of Kamloops.
Travelling
Here
To get here by taking the Trans-Canada Hwy 1, you can either travel
69 km (43 miles) east from Kamloops, or 44 km (27.5 miles) west
of Salmon Arm to the small First Nation community of Squilax. From
here, you then take the Squilax Anglemont Road, "North Shore
Route," about 17 km (11 miles) to the community of Scotch Creek.
Shuswap Lake Provincial Park is about 2 km (1.3 miles) east of the
main business section of Scotch Creek.
Beautiful
Beach
The main highlight of this very popular park is the kilometre or
so of a south-facing, mixed sand-and-pebble beach located on the
shores of Shuswap Lake. Shuswap Lake is well-noted for its excellent
water sport activities that include swimming, canoeing, wind-surfing,
kayaking, house boating, and water-skiing.
Copper
Island
The park encompasses a large area next to the lake and includes
Copper Island, a distinct feature in the near horizon. Copper Island
has an area designated for people to land watercraft; it can be
easily reached by canoe or kayak, and has a 2.8 km (1.8 miles) perimeter
trail where there are a couple of lookout points. It's a very popular
spot with the local speed boaters and makes for a good destination
point, especially in the summer.
Day-Use
Are
The day-use area at Shuswap Lake Provincial Park is beautifully
treed and offers various sections of parking lots, including a spot
for RVs, a large playground for children, a good-sized boat launch
at no cost, a separate area to park your vehicle with attached boat
trailer, picnic tables, a changehouse, washrooms offering flush
toilets, a nice sandy beach open to the public, a fairly large grass
field, an amphitheatre, plus a visitor centre with a self-guided
nature trail situated nearby.
Park
Gate House
As you enter the park, you can make reservation check-ins with the
park operators located at the gate house. The campsites offered
at Shuswap Lake Provincial Park are fairly large, well-treed, generally
private, and well-suited for small children. Firewood is available
for a small fee at the gate house, plus there is 24-hour security
during peak times of the year.
Park
Facilities
The facilities found at the park include the day-use area, about
one kilometre of a mixture of pebble-and-sand beach, a large buoyed-off
swimming area, flush toilets, no-fee hot water showers in the campground
for guests, and a group camping area by reservation. Just remember
there are no lifeguards present here or in any other BC Park, so
swimming is at your own risk.
Campground
The campground has a total of 272 vehicle-accessible campsites with
217 of these being reservable through the Discover Camping reservation
system, the rest on a first-come, first-served basis. The park can
get really busy at peak season in the summer, so if you want to
visit here at that time, reservations are definitely a must. Depending
on park requirements, there can sometimes be overflow camping in
the day-use parking lot where you then get on a list for available
campsites.
Park
Store
Just outside the park gate on Squilax Anglemont Road, is the Park
Store, a log-style building which offers a decent number of fresh
items from which to choose. Next door to the Park Store is the Fun
Centre, a great place to take kids for entertainment in the evenings.
There's also a small, eclectic assortment of businesses situated
next to the gate house, each within walking distance of the campsites.
The assortment includes a bistro, coffee house, and a local drinking
establishment called the Copper Island Pub.
Scotch
Creek
For a greater selection of supplies and services, the main business
section of Scotch Creek located 2 km (1.3 miles) away, has a number
of conveniences close by, including fuel, groceries, marine services,
and hardware items. Scotch Creek is the largest community on the
North Shore and has a good-sized Super Valu that has a liquor outlet
and post office inside, a Home Hardware store, and a Peoples Drug
Mart. There are also a number of other local conveniences, including
the North Shore Branch of the regional library, an Esso Service
Station, a tourist information centre, health food store, art studio,
a real estate agent, and a community police building.
BC
Parks
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Welcome to Shuswap
Lake
Shuswap Lake
Beach
Copper Island
Day-Use Area
Beach at Shuswap
Lake Provincial Park
Campsite
Park Store
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