Bedwell Lake
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Park: Strathcona Provincial Park, Buttle Lake region
6.0 km one way.
Terrain: Intermediate
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Bedwell Lake Trailhead: (350 km from Saanich Hall, 3 km on logging roads). Take highway 1 north from Victoria to Nanaimo where it becomes highway 19, continue north to Campbell River where you turn west onto highway 28 (to Gold River). Follow this until you enter Strathcona Provincial Park. Take the Westmin Resources Road and continue until you get around the south end of the lake. Shortly after rounding the south end you will come across a gravel road on your left heading off to the south, turn here and continue to a fork where you go left and up the hill. This section is a bit rough on cars but can be negotiated if driven with care. A short ways after the rough section is the parking area for the trail.
| Backpack | Easy to moderate. | 2 hours one way. | Best from mid June thru late September. |
| Dayhike | 3 boot (easy to moderate). | Best from June thru October. |
Due to the extreme snow pack we had the winter before last, failities in Strathcona Provincial Park in general and the Bedwell (and Della Falls) in particular were heavily damaged. To the tune of approximately 1 million dollars. The current status of the Bedwell is that it is CLOSED. We are in the planning stage of rebuilding the bridges, boardwalks, campsites, outhouses etc. but unfortunately the snow is delaying us at the moment.
Further information, a member of the club talked to a ranger on the Labour Day weekend (2000) and was told that the snow had only receeded from the Bedwell Lake area in the past month. Work is proceeding to replace the crushed outhouses and tent pads as well as to replace the bridge and bear poles all of which were virtually destroyed by the extremely heavy snows of the past two winters. We would like to commend BC Parks in putting the priority on getting this trail back in shape for next season, even if only at a reduced leval of facilities.
Check their information page for updates.
| Baby Bedwell Lake | Approx 5.0 km |
| Water is plentiful. | |
| Bedwell Lake | 6.0 km | 953 meters |
| Water is plentiful. Water is taken from the lake or, with more effort, from a stream a few hundred meters before the camp. |
View trail condition reports for this trail.