Natural Wonder For Those Who Like Natural Recreation Spots, British Columbia’s Wells Gray Provincial Park Is The Place

Whoooosh! goes the bulk of summer traffic, hurtling past the entrance to British Columbia’s Wells Gray Provincial Park, not even slowing in deference to the impressive life-sized moose sculpture guarding the visitor center. Most travelers are in too big a hurry to reach Jasper, Alberta, and begin the much-touted drive past the ice fields down to Banff.

Underused and unheralded, Wells Gray, located about 90 miles north of Kamloops, has its own devotees: militant lovers of wilderness free of pavement and commerce, where scarcely a vestige of human enterprise eclipses what nature has wrought.

Scattered through the park are five major lakes (Murtle is the largest and most remote), two river systems and numerous jewel-like alpine lakes fed by tumbling streams. Perhaps the park’s most dramatic feature, especially for the day-tripper, is its waterfalls. For those who worship cascading water, Wells Gray may well qualify as Mecca.

In this forested wonderland, endless green foothills flank snow-capped glaciated peaks which rise high above flower-decked meadows. Dominating the landscape everywhere are the ancient trees, crowding up against the shores of lakes and rivers. On the north slopes of Azure Lake, for example, visitors walk among giant cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock trees, 500-year-old patriarchs that were seedlings when Columbus landed in the New World.

There is no lack of wildlife. Mule deer are common in the Hemp Creek-Murtle River area, caribou range over the wilderness surrounding Angus Horne Lake and the nearby mountains, and moose are still seen. Black bear roam all through the park, while other creatures including marten, mink, wolverine, beaver and timber wolf seek their favored habitats.

Indigenous birds are as diverse as the golden eagle, rufous hummingbird, osprey and loon. Fishermen flock here, eager to try for rainbow, Dolly Varden or lake trout.

Established in 1939, Wells Gray enfolds 2,000 square miles, bounded on the north by the Caribou Mountains and including the greater part of the Clearwater River watershed.

A notable waterfall is located not far north of Clearwater in its own pocket park, Spahats Creek. Over the centuries, the creek has carved a 365-foot deep canyon through layers of lava. From a promontory, one views Spahats Creek Falls tumbling into the canyon far below and eventually into the Clearwater River.

Inside the park, Dawson Falls cascades down a wide escarpment of the Murtle River as if trying to imitate Niagara, but on a smaller scale. A short trail leads to several vantage points for different views of these rampaging waters. Farther along, the road crosses the river at Devils Punch Bowl, commonly called the “Mushbowl”, where waters gush through a narrow gorge, carving huge holes in the rock of the riverbed.

Nearby Helmcken Falls is audible from some distance away as it plummets more than 400 feet into a deep pool. From the parking area at the end of Helmcken Falls Road, a foot path covers the short distance to the canyon rim for a clear view of the cataract.

Park interpreters are normally in attendance in the areas of Dawson Falls, Helmcken Falls and the Clearwater Lake campgrounds during July and August. The lake campground now contains an amphitheater for nature talks by the park naturalist, who schedules hikes as well.

Wells Gray is a favorite among hikers and campers. More than a dozen trail systems penetrate the park’s most scenic areas, and campers bringing boats have access to three large lakes.

Oddly enough, an increasing number of lake paddlers here speak German. This is because Wells Gray is promoted heavily throughout Europe, particularly in Germany with its sizable collection of would-be adventurers seeking a pristine getaway. “Sure it’s a long way for them to come,” says one local canoe trip outfitter, “but in Europe today there’s no wilderness left. We do almost all our advertising in Europe, and half our customers are German.”

Most paddle trips take place on the park’s lower lakes, Clearwater and Azure, which are linked by a winding river with its share of challenging rapids. A quarter-mile portage detours around the white water, but it’s an uphill climb carrying boat and gear; there are wooden steps where footing is trickiest.

More casual visitors can cruise up both lakes aboard the Dove, operated by Clearwater Lake Tours. The launch or its sister ship departs twice daily from the boat ramp at road’s end, at mid-morning and mid-afternoon. The 4-hour journey flaunts the area’s scenic diversity. After winding up the connecting river, the boat skims the length of Azure Lake, pausing at each spot where forested slopes are slashed by waterfalls. Finally arriving at Rainbow Falls Campground, passengers disembark for a leisurely stroll through moss-choked rain forest to the base of the falls; a narrow and often steep trail continues uphill following the Angus Horne Creek which plunges noisily through endless rock canyons.

The park’s highest and largest lake, Murtle, is accessible only by a one-hour portage from the parking lot, and presents the ultimate adventure for the hardy. (The trail has been widened recently to accept wheeled boat carriers.) Wells Gray remains open in winter, offering visitors a variety of snowbased activities such as back country trekking, hut-to-hut cross-country skiing, sleigh rides, dog sled trips and organized ice climbing. When temperatures drop, the lower section of Helmcken Falls solidifies into a giant snow cone, often measuring 300 feet in height. It is a favorite destination of cross-country skiers striking out from Helmcken Falls Lodge.

Even though it basks in relative obscurity, Wells Gray nevertheless grapples with the same environmental questions that seem to plague wilderness areas across the continent. At least one of these conflicts was defined for me last summer.

Park ranger Randy Hedlund sat close to our campfire, using a hot cup of cocoa as a hand-warmer as he patiently tried to explain the link between moose populations and forest fires. That link is well established, but it’s not what we thought.

“If a natural forest fire were ever allowed to run its course, rather than being snuffed out by chemicals dropped from helicopters, the moose would eventually come back,” Heldund was saying. Nature’s fires trim the long-haired mountain slopes, making room for the low, succulent brush that moose love to munch on.

Because tall healthy evergreens discourage new growth, the moose here in Wells Grey provincial Park are declining; fires, after all, are anathema to some park officials, a scourge that would surely ruin the looks of the park.

In order to have a say in these and other environmental issues affecting the region, park devotees have banded together to form The Friends of Wells Gray, a watchdog organization comprised of both Canadians and Americans, frequently involved in quiet battles with the Canadian government over the park’s future. If they have their way, Wells Gray will remain free from encroachments by our ever-widening civilization.

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