Piddlin' Around Buttle Lake

Piddlin' Around Buttle Lake This seemed like an appropriate title with which to introduce a little excursion I took with my dog. I had been up in Gold River on business and since I was travelling back on the Saturday, I decided to explore some of the shorter trails leading off the roads between there and Campbell River. Since I think others who were thinking of spending a day like this would more likely be starting out from Campbell River, I will try to arrange my pictures and comments in that way.

The #28 Highway which branches off to the west out of Campbell River is a winding road with some wonderful scenic points especially as it skirts the south side of Campbell Lake. 48 km west of Campbell River, you enter Strathacona Park. Stop at the Strathacona Lodge for a copy of the Strathacona Park brochure. It has a map which will show you how to find the trails I have mentioned here. (Not so hard...there is very good signage along the road.) Shortly after entering the park you will see the sign indicating the turn off for Buttle Lake. This lake is north of the highway and you turn on to the Western Mine Road to access it. There is lots of camping space available and power boats are allowed.

This is a disappointing picture of Mt. McBride as viewed across Buttle Lake from the Western Mine Road. For reasons I do not understand, I cannot get it to scan in the colors it has on the photo. Suffice it to say it is a big lake.

The Buttle Lake Nature Walks

As you travel down the road you will see these trails clearly marked. We did not do the Flower Ridge trail because it was too long given the time we had.

Lupin Falls The Lupin Falls trail is about 800 meters long and it takes about 15 minutes to walk it. It is a short circular trail that passes by this charming waterfall. High but little volume. The brochure says there are Candystick and Indian Pipe blooming in season. (So where are the lupin?)

Karst Creek Trail I stated in my introductory page that I was not working for Tourism B.C. so I can admit I found this trail rather disappointing. I "discovered" the term "karst" only about 6 months ago. I have since read all about it and hoped to get a chance to see real life examples on this trail. The borchure explained that this 2 km trail which would take about 45 minutes and would take the hiker through "a limestone wonderland inclluding sink holes, a disappearing stream and a beautiful water fall."
I think I found them but I am not sure. There is so much overhanging foliage you cannot be sure if the stream had "disappeared" or just rerouted in a direction covered by undergrowth. Similarly the sink hole was rather overgrown and I am not sure I was looking in the right place. Still a nice walk.

Myra Falls A large falls with several cascades. The 1 km trail leads you to a lookout points for the largest two. These falls are at the southern tip of Buttle Lake.

An Unexpected Bonus

This was an unexpected bonus. We had finished viewing Myra Falls and were just getting back into our car. Kiwi (my dog) was in her seat and I had just climbed in when I glanced out the front window of my vehicle and spotted these two maybe 20 feet in front of us. I still had the car door open. They had glanced our way but had not appeared too concerned so I grabbed my camera and tried to get a shot over the edge of my open car door. Bears "stroll" at quite a pace. There was no time to do more than aim and shoot. Wish I had had time to use the telephoto. Can you see the second bear heading up into the shrubbery?

Lady Falls You will recall that I explained that I had done this trip starting from Gold River. There are a few sites right off of Highway 28. I did those before I reached Buttle Lake. If you do the Buttle Lake Trails and still have time on your hand, carry on along Highway # 28 towards Gold River and visit Lady Falls. The trail is about a kilometer long and leads to the falls. This is a relatively large volume fall.

Elk River The ELk River Trail is closer again to Gold River. It is 11 km long and the suggested hiking time is 5 hours one way. There are areas of bare rock and the elevation change is 600 metres. This goes beyond "piddlin about". Closer to Campbell River, however, you will find the Elk Rver View Point. This trail is about 400 meters long. It is an unusual featured site since it has been built on an B.C.Hydro right of way. The area is clear cut. That is why our Rosevelt Elk often favour this as a location. They like an area where there is heavy forest to hide in but they need the clear cut to allow nature to provide the forage they need to survive.

These are not all the short trails in this area but I hope that the bit I have shown here will encourage you to do your own exploring.