The community of Loon Lake is a beautiful vacation spot for the entire family. Surrounded by Ponderosa Pines along its shores, the 7-mile long Loon Lake and surrounding mountains offer a great summer recluse, drawing vacationers back to this hidden paradise year after year.
The Loon Lake area offers great fishing all year round, and during the summer the shores of the majestic lake are dotted with boats of fishermen trying to hook “the big one”.
Other recreational activities in Loon Lake include canoeing and kayaking, swimming, boating, and hiking in summer, and snowmobiling and cross-country skiing during the winter months.
Loon Lake is more than just a fabulous summer retreat. It is now a thriving community, and the local residents hold many community events all year round, including an annual winter carnival that is gaining in popularity. The various resorts and fishing lodges nestled around Loon Lake offer a wide variety of facilities, including camping and RV parks.
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There are basic services available in the community of Loon Lake, with gas and laundry facilities available at Cache Creek or Clinton. Should your visit to Loon Lake be for an hour, a day, a week, or longer, it is sure to be one you’ll remember fondly for a long time.
Location: Loon Lake is located in the Cariboo region of British Columbia, east of Clinton and approximately 27 miles (43 km) northeast of Cache Creek. The turnoff to Loon Lake (Loon Lake Road) is 12.5 miles (20 km) north of Cache Creek on the Cariboo Highway 97. Loon Lake is approximately 14 miles (23 km) up Loon Lake Road.
The scenic drive along the all-weather road winds past sprawling ranches that are spread throughout the narrow valley. The road narrows through the Loon Creek Canyon and then widens again into a very pretty valley.
Loon Lake Provincial Park is situated on the south-facing slope of Loon Lake, a long, narrow, well-stocked rainbow trout lake. The small 3-hectare park is tucked under a mixed canopy of stately Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forest that flourish in the dry, warm climate of the southern Cariboo.
Fishing: Fishing is great in the Cariboo, with literally thousands of lakes, ponds, and rivers in the region, and Loon Lake is among the best of them. Loon Lake is home to a natural population of resident rainbow trout to 3 lbs (12 to 16 inches), and also contains kokanee and steelhead. The deep and narrow Loon Lake provides good angling throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons. Information and fishing regulations are available wherever licenses are sold. Close by is Loon Creek hatchery, which raises kokanee salmon and rainbow trout.
Wildlife: Wildlife is abundant in this beautiful area, and during the quiet hours you can hear the haunting call of the loon. Wildlife found in the surrounding area includes moose and deer, coyotes and black bear, beavers, and occasional porcupines. Eagles and ospreys guard the skies, and waterfowl patrol the shallows and hide amongst the sedge and bullrushes along the shoreline.
West of Loon Lake on the Cariboo Highway is Clinton, once a busy junction on the wagon road leading to the Cariboo and Barkerville gold fields. Today, the area surrounding Clinton is known as the Guest Ranch Capital of British Columbia.
South of Loon Lake is Cache Creek, located at the junction of the Cariboo Highway and the Trans-Canada Highway 1. Once a midway point on the Fraser Canyon route from the Lower Mainland to the Interior, and a good place for travellers to rest on the exhausting Gold Rush Trail, Cache Creek is named after the habit of travellers hiding their gold ‘cache’ in a nearby creek (Bonaparte River) while they rested before continuing on their journey.
