Woss Lake Provincial Park, Nature reserve near Woss, Canada
Woss Lake Provincial Park is a 66 square kilometer nature reserve in northern Vancouver Island featuring the southern section of the lake, steep forested slopes, and year-round snowfields on Rugged Mountain. The landscape combines dense forest with alpine terrain and clear water, creating a varied environment from shoreline to peaks.
The park was established in 1995 to protect a historic trade route called the Grease Trail, which crossed the island over the Tahsis divide and connected First Nations communities. This path had served as a link between groups for hundreds of years.
The park lies in the traditional territory of the 'Namgis First Nation, part of the Kwakwaka'wakw. The name Woss comes from Kwakwala and means "river on the bottom," also the name of a village at the confluence of the Woss and Nimpkish rivers. The Grease Trail crossing the Tahsis Divide carried oolichan grease, a solid trade good; two culturally modified trees with carved faces still stand on the route.
There are no recreation facilities in the park, so visitors must bring their own gear. A boat, canoe or kayak is needed to reach the lake and its shores; from there, backcountry hiking, skiing, mountaineering, camping, fishing and hunting are possible. The Grease Trail crossing the Tahsis Divide is a motorcycle route today and regrows quickly after heavy rain.
The park holds a nameless, intact secondary watershed of 16 km² draining into the head of Woss Lake, with Chinook salmon and steelhead spawning habitat and a delta of rare plants. It is not the whole lake basin, only this unnamed side drainage.
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