BC provincial parks and protected lands are among the finest ways to explore the backcountry around Lytton.
Most of its 150km/93mi of trails through the backcountry are not for the faint of heart, especially the multi-day Stein Heritage Trail that traverses the wilderness for 58km/36m from the parking lot trail head to Stein Lake.
The trail is split into easier destination segments, the first being to Birthing Rock (1.5km/0.9mi). Native women are said to have lined the rock hollows with fir boughs and given birth their children here. It is also known as the Asking Rock where Nlaka'pamux people ask permission from the spirits to enter the valley. Note the faded rock paintings, the first of several pictographs found in The Stein.
The free Reaction Ferry ride is only five-minutes but since it can only take two cars per crossing, be prepared to wait a few trips. It operates daily 6:30am to 10pm except during high water.
Goldpan Provincial Park
Located 98km/61mi north of Lytton, near Spences Bridge, the small 5ha/12ac Goldpan Provincial Park is popular with overnight travelers on Highway 1, as well as fisherman looking for trout, steelhead and salmon in the Thompson River.
Rock hounders gravitate to the shores more for the intriguingly shaped basalt and smoky grey banded agates than for more precious finds. That said there are also white and yellow agates, chalcedony and rare opal pieces. The historic Cariboo Wagon Road, which starts in Yale, passes through the area.
Skihist Provincial Park
Located just 6km/3.7mi north of Lytton off Highway 1, Skihist Provincial Park's day-use picnic area is a refreshingly shaded and grass-green area – in marked contrast to the rock and desert canyon surrounds. Overlooking the Thompson canyon, it's a favourite spot to watch trains passing on the west side. Across the road is a campground with 58 sites.
In all, the 33ha/82ac park has 8km/5mi of mountainside trails, including a pet walk and portions of the Cariboo Wagon Road alongside views of wildlife, plants and spectacular scenery.
Nahatlatch Valley
North Bend is the gateway to this scenic canyon valley of waterfalls, lakes and forests of pine, spruce, fir and cedar. Former logging roads make for excellent hiking and mountain biking trails, and there are hikes to Francis Lake, Hannah Lake and the Nahatlatch Lake (the largest of the three) as well as to the Nahatlatch River.
All are popular for fishing. The valley's main attraction is its world-class white water of near-continuous Class III-V rapids. The lower 14km/9mi of the river from Francis Lake to the Fraser River features 37 amazing intermediate and advanced rapids over an average gradient of 11km/7mi.
Botanie Recreational Site
The First Nations called the Botanie Recreational Site "Pootanie" meaning blanket or lake of many flowers and although the lake covers some of the meadowlands, wild flowers still proliferate. The valley's biological diversity includes semi-arid lands of prickly pear cactus and sage brush; undergrowth of Saskatoon berry, coastal rain forest, and tundra slopes above the tree line all of which provides for several hiking and mountain bike opportunities.
The Skwaha Ecological Reserve lies approximately 5km/3mi past Botanie Lake (elevation: 1,000m/3,280ft). It's a protected area that requires special permission to access from the Kamloops Water, Air and Land Protection Office. The original, earthen dam was built in 1926 with horse powered scrapers (one is on display at the Lytton Museum), and was rebuilt in 1998.
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