July 28, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Fort St. James, Camping
There are many beautiful lakes around the Fort St James area, but my favourite that I've recently visited is Tezzeron Lake. I stayed at the Cinnabar Resort and had a great time exploring the lake and surrounding natural attractions. The attached photo is of one of the many beautiful sunrises that we saw during our stay!
The Cinnabar Resort is located about 50km north-west of Fort St James. It is home to a University of Northern BC Research Centre and neighbours the also-beautiful Tezzeron Resort. We stayed in one of Cinnabar's cozy cabins (mmm I love the smell of a wood stove!) which sleeps 4 people in bunk beds and is equipped with a small kitchen, but you could also pitch a tent at one of their lakeside tent sites a little further up the beach.
We borrowed a canoe to explore a nearby island and found lots of evidence of the resident River Otter's presence! These guys sure eat a lot of fish! Speaking of fish, be sure to bring your rod because the lake is full of them, and you won't be crowded by other fisherman since there are only 3 access points to the lake (these 2 resorts and one forestry recreation campsite).
Nearby, we hiked up Pinchi Mountain to get a 360 degree view of Tezzeron, Pinchi, and Stewart Lakes. On another day, we walked a short interpretive trail built by the local First Nations youth that takes you to a genuine pit house that the youth built. This pit house, along with the surrounding cache pits and culturally modified trees provide a fantastic bit of cultural history of this area. The resort caretakers can help you find these two attractions.
The Cinnabar and Tezzeron resorts are open year round, so you can visit the beautiful and peaceful Tezzaron Lake any time you please!