Hike to Watersprite Lake
Squamish-Lillooet D, British Columbia
Details
Distance
8.9 miles
Elevation Gain
2772.3 ft
Route Type
Out-and-Back
Description
Added by Emily Masse
Hike to a crystal clear, alpine lake lake with minimal traffic and amazing views.
The trailhead starts at an old service road and follows it for around 3 km until the trail turns left, off the old service road. Watch for flagging tape as this turn is often missed. Once off the service road, the trail immediately goes down and winds through a meadow with beautiful lakes and amazing reflections. The meadow gives you a short break as the trail begins to climb again as you hike through the alpine, including a couple boulder fields. As you continue to climb, the EPIC rocky peaks become visible giving you the last motivation to get to the lake.
The final stretch of the hike takes you up a large boulder field and straight to the lake. Once you've reached the top of the boulder field, you can work at picking your jaw up off the ground. This was hands down one of the most beautiful lakes I've seen yet. Having the lake to ourselves, we enjoyed amazing reflections, crystal clear water, cotton candy colours, peaceful silence. It was a surreal day.
We arrived later in the morning and ran out of time to explore further, however there are several peaks that you can summit from the lake. I can't wait to return to complete one of the summits :)
Getting there: Coming from Vancouver, drive just past the Chief on Highway 99 and turn onto the Mamquam Main. You will follow this road crossing three bridges, finally making a left at the Skookum Power Project. Follow this road until the metal 'candy cane' where you will turn right and follow the road into the parking lot.
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Hike to Watersprite Lake Reviews
Hey there Outdoor Explorers, Some friends and I recently completed a trip up to Watersprite Lake and stayed at the hut there, built by BCMC in 2016. For all the details, including some great photos, check out our posts here: https://outdoor-explore.com/journey/23/outdoor-explore-watersprite-lake-hut-trip
5.0
My group of 4 hiked up to Watersprite Lake yesterday, November 6, 2016. First of all, our only comment is that the beginner rating (as noted by Stephan below) is very surprising. I would not feel comfortable bringing a beginner on this trial at around 21km round trip (6-7 hours), decent elevation gain and not-so-easy terrain. Other than that, I would say that so far this is my favourite hike I've done to date. The lake and mountains coming down into it are incredible, especially with some snow on them. The terrain is diverse and never boring. Lots of great photo-ops. Given that we did this hike in November, there was a lot of mud and the top hovered around -1 degrees. All of it worth it, I highly recommend this hike. *It is important to note that the forestry road is not entirely suitable for a car, my 4x4 SUV barely cleared some of the dips and steep climbs.
5.0
We hiked there today with our dog, so he could get up to the snow (in July!). Boy we're we surprised at the "beginner" rating you gave it! The trail definitely isn't the beaten path/groomed trail you'd get at Garibaldi, but we knew it was more challenging than that, but whoa! Up and down, through the mud, over boulders! Great fun! Maybe I'm really tired now, but I would not recommend this to novice hikers, not if the Chief is your experience!
5.0
Looks amazing! Are there suitable camping spots at the lake?
5.0
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