Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, Provincial park and nature reserve in Fraser Valley, Canada
Sx̱ótsaqel/Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park is a Category II protected area of 9,258 hectares in the Fraser Valley Regional District, directly north of the Washington border. Its core is Chilliwack Lake, a valley-bottom lake in a U-shaped glacial valley, and the park also holds the peaks of the Skagit Range and four smaller lakes: Lindeman, Greendrop, Flora and Radium. The Chilliwack Lake Road and Chilliwack Forestry Service Road reach the park, with the last 7 kilometres unpaved.
This place was long an important meeting point for nine Indigenous settlements connected by an ancient path along the Chilliwack River. In 1855, the Hudson's Bay Company built a formal trail that followed this existing network.
The park's name was changed to Sx̱ótsaqel/Chilliwack Lake Park in 2021 under British Columbia's Protected Areas Amendment Act (Bill 17-2021). Sx̱ótsaqel means "sacred lake" in Halkomelem, and the area is the ancestral homeland of the Ts'elxwéyeqw Tribe. Before European settlement the valley was hunting and fishing ground for First Nations such as the Stó:lō and Nlaka'pamux.
Access is via Chilliwack Lake Road from Chilliwack; the final 7 km are unpaved. The 146 frontcountry campsites cannot be reserved, and facilities are basic. Trails at the north end are strenuous mountain routes, and Hanging Lake's trail is unmaintained with no safe Chilliwack River crossings.
Flora Lake is reached only by a steep, rough and overgrown trail through slides, creeks, washouts and alpine meadows, and the park advises that only experienced, well-equipped hikers with path-finding skills attempt it. The climb can take several hours in each direction, so hikers should be prepared to spend the night.
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