About the Watch Lake / Green Lake Area
The Watch Lake / Green Lake recreation area in British Columbia’s unique South Cariboo – a land rich in history, wide open spaces, and abundant wildlife. A perfect travel destination! You’ll find many types of accommodation available around both lakes – lodges, log cabin rentals, camp grounds, RV sites – just about everything except motels and hotels.
Shop for arts and crafts; visit the restaurants, stores and pubs. Enjoy summer activities such as horseback riding, hiking, swimming and other water sports. Come winter time go ice fishing, dog sledding, snowmobiling, cross-country and downhill skiing, and snowshoeing.
Enjoy the scenic 5 hour drive north from Vancouver. Follow the Trans Canada Highway to Cache Creek, then continue north along the Old Cariboo Gold Rush Trail (Hwy 97) to 70 Mile House. From there just follow the signs. You’ll be surprised by what you find!
Known for excellent Trout fishing, the area also hosts abundant wildlife and incredible bird watching. While studying one of the many feathered species of the area one might also see a moose, bear, coyote, or fox trotting by or drinking in one of the many water holes. As this is the heart of ranching country, you might also see a working cowboy out riding the range, keeping an eye on the cow herd. Click on the map to the right, or below, they will enlarge.
100 Mile House is our closest business centre, about a half hour away. 100 Mile offers everything from a loaf of bread at two major grocery stores, to new cars at four major car dealers! It’s a great little town.
70 Mile House is our own local town. It has a Post Office, a Community Hall, a Pub, a General Store with a gas station and Liquor Store, and an Access Center. The Dusty Rose Pub is a nice Neighbourhood Pub with good food and friendly service. The 70 Mile Store offers almost everything that you could want or need.
Green Lake is located about 13 kms (8 miles) east of 70 Mile House. Green Lake is an outstanding family lake, situated amongst rolling hills of meadows, aspen and pine. This beautiful lake shines of Caribbean blue/green colors. The water is incredibly clear, with some of the best beaches in BC and three fabulous provincial park campgrounds. Green lake is a jewel for vacationing families. Boat launches, resorts, and guest ranches are found all around the lake. Besides the swimming, waterskiing, and horseback riding, Green lake offers many wildlife viewing areas. Rainbow and Kokanee are found in the lake. See “Fishing Derby” under Events.
There are more than 8,000 lakes in the Cariboo/Chilcotin region, and there is not a better place to use as a base camp from which you can explore the area.
The aspen forests and open meadows provide some of the most delightful walking trails found anywhere. On a sunny day, pause for a few minutes. Sit down in the grass, close your eyes and relax; enjoy the rustle of the leaves, and the scent of chamomile and clover on the afternoon breeze.
Watch Lake is just past the ever popular Green Lake. It is three and half miles of good, clean, clear water! 50,000 rainbow trout are put into Watch Lake every year, making it an excellent fishing lake! Power boats have a speed restriction of 8km/hr. While most fish caught are about 1 lb, rainbows up to 7 pounds have been recorded. This lake is very popular with fishermen who enjoy trolling, spinning, and fly fishing.
See “Fishing Derby” under Events.
The shore line still hosts a lot of natural Crown land. There is camping, resorts, boat launches, and a guest ranch along with regular services. A large provincial campsite is located nearby at Green Lake. From Watch Lake there is a great view of the rolling Cariboo terrain. Because of the power boat speed restriction of 8km/hr, Watch Lake is popular for swimming as well as fishing. All manner of recreational activities are available in this area: water activities, hiking and horseback riding in the summer; ice fishing, skating, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling in the winter. In May the spawning fish can be seen in the habitat enhancement area in Watch Creek.
All in all, Watch Lake and Green Lake should be rated as two of the best family lakes in BC and should be high on your priority list when visiting the Cariboo – you’ll never regret it and you’ll find yourself coming back over and over again.
No matter what the season, the South Cariboo, BC, is one of Canada’s favorite travel destinations. You can have a great vacation get-a-way, no matter what your interests. The list of activities is pretty much endless even in the winter, which is one of the prettiest times of the year! On our Activities page we list things to do all year round. The area hosts Accommodation of many different types, including B&Bs, Resorts, Guest Ranches, Lodges, Log Cabin rentals, RV sites, and Camping. The Business Directory lists all of our member businesses with their contact information, including web site addresses and email links.
For horse people there are two gymkhanas taking place in the summer.
See “Gymkhana“under Events.