Difficulty: hard

Rating: 4.5/5

Duration: 6-7hr / 12km (one way)

Accessibility: Car

big peters lake (monashees)

Description:

The hike to Big Peters Lake will take you through three very distinct stages of the hike before you reach the Big Peters camping area.

The first of these stages is the relatively easy walk from the initial parking lot along the valley floor to Spectrum Lake. This longer section is about 6KM in length. Once you leave the parking lot you will be walking in-between a network of giant trees. The whole view itself from this portion is quite beautiful so it is worth it to take a second to take notice the amazing landscape. Once you arrive at a fork on the path you can either take an extension loop to go down and visit Spectrum Lake or you can continue up on the main path to big peters lake. This main path offers stunning views as you walk beneath the colossus of Mount Frosthall peaking at 2700m overhead.

This next section of the hike is the most difficult and where you gain almost all of the elevation to close the gap up to Big Peters Lake. To continue on we recommend you have had some hiking experience with difficult terrain, because as you reach higher there are sections of the hike it is possible the path could be washed out or deeply covered in brush. While there are no sections were you need to “trail blaze” there are two river crossings that could be tricky depending on weather conditions. Both crossings are large washed out creeks surrounded by shale rock, when we did this hike it was the end of August where the water flow would be lowest, so be mindful of what season you attempt this part of the hike. The next section is a more level passage between Little Peters and Big Peters lake there are several bear bins for food storage and designated camp sites along the trail to set up shop.

From here you will have access to the deeper trail networks in the park, such as the Mount Frosthall summit, South Cariboo Pass, and Margie Lake to the East. 

*Note, the park is open year round but only serviced from June 23 to Sept 24 to allow for the snow melt.

 

directions:

This hike is approximately 2 hours 35 minutes drive from downtown Kelowna, or 1 hour 15 minutes from Cherryville.

  1. Driving from Kelowna head towards Cherryville.
  2. Turn left onto Sugar Lake rd at the Tempo Gas Station. 
  3. Follow Sugar Lake rd for 37.6km. The road will shortly become gravel but it is very well maintained.
  4. At this point you should see signs for "Monashee Provincial Park". Turn right here.
  5. Drive for 1.3km until you pass a bridge. Immediately turn right after the bridge.
  6. 2.8km after the bridge you will pass the turnoff for Rainbow Falls on your left.
  7. Stay on this road for 12.1km from the bridge keeping left following signs until you reach the parking area. 

*This route is now available on GoogleMaps!

*Cell service is spotty in this area so we strongly recommend downloading the map beforehand.

GPS Coordinates:

  • Tempo Gas Station: 50.245740, -118.662409
  • Turnoff towards the Monashees: 50.516985, -118.456346
  • Bridge Crossing: 50.512907, -118.445243
  • Rainbow Falls turnoff: 50.491719, -118.448656
  • Parking Area: 50.503748, -118.360559

features:

  • Mountain views
  • Creek crossing
  • Two lakes
  • Camping spots
  • No cell service
  • Roughly 1200m elevation gain