Set into the hills beside Logan Lake in the heart of the Highland Valley, the community of Logan Lake is located on a scenic highway crossroads, approximately 60 kilometres southwest of Kamloops.
Logan Lake passed from a company ‘camp’ town in 1971, when it was established as a company town to support the expanding copper mine development 15 kilometres to the west, to a ‘rooted’ community in the late 1970s.
Today, mining, tourism and ranching form a strong and diversified economic base for the area. Logan Lake is no longer just a ‘mining town’, having bloomed into a beautiful rural destination to become one of the more popular communities in the interior of British Columbia, where visitors can enjoy the serenity of outdoor living and recreation.
The close proximity of unlimited outdoor recreational pursuits include cross-country skiing, fishing, golfing, hiking, snowmobiling and Disc Golf. Logan Lake serves as a convenient base camp from which to explore all that the Highland Valley has to offer, and lives by its slogan A Lake a Day as Long as you Stay.
Population: 2,307
Location: Logan Lake is located on Highway 97C, 38 miles (60 km) southwest of Kamloops and approximately 44 miles (70 km) north of Merritt.
Mining is still the main industry in Logan Lake, which boasts Highland Valley Copper Mine, the largest open-pit copper mine on the North American continent and one of the largest copper mining operations in the world. The mine is an open-pit, truck-and-shovel operation producing copper concentrate and molybdenum. Concentrates are transported by rail to customers in North America, and to Vancouver for export to countries overseas.
Visit the unique Visitor Centre, tucked inside a 195B Bucyrus Erie mining shovel with a 13-metre bucket, parked next to a 235-ton ore haulage truck. You can’t miss it! The Wabco # 50 truck was a gift to the District of Logan Lake by the Highland Valley Copper Mine mining company in February 1990.
Walloper Lake Provincial Park is accessible via the Lac Le Jeune exit just off the Coquihalla Highway, 25 km east of Logan Lake. This small lake is surrounded by an open lodgepole pine forest. Facilities include picnic tables in a day-use picnic area, pit toilets, and a fishing wharf. No overnight camping is permitted, and an undeveloped area provides launching for small boats only.
McConnell Lake Provincial Park offers 102 hectares of natural wilderness located 35 km east of Logan Lake. The park encompasses several small lakes and is famous for its fly-fishing. McConnell Lake has been known to produce 1.5+ kg rainbow trout! The park contains an extensive trail network that is popular with hikers in the summer and cross-country skiers in the winter.
Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park, located 30 km east of Logan Lake, offers camping and water sports, and provides lakeshore hiking opportunities, horseshoe pitches, and visitor-program activities in its amphitheatre. The park also contains two archaeological sites. The waters of Lac le Jeune are famous for producing fighting rainbow trout. The campground serves as a base for recreational activities at both Stake and Walloper Lakes.
Mount Savona Provincial Park near the west end of Kamloops Lake, offers a pretty spot for a picnic and a swim. Located alongside Highway 1, the park provides excellent opportunities for hiking, nature study, and wildlife viewing.
Steelhead Provincial Park is located on the southwest shore of Kamloops Lake, 40 km north of Logan Lake. Summer recreation draws a crowd, but at other times you’ll have this park and its wonderfully eroded landscape to yourself. This is an angling hot spot, too, with a convenient boat launching ramp.
Stake Lake has extensive hiking trails and standard-issue, single-track, mountain bike trails. In winter Stake Lake is a popular cross-country skiing venue.
Canoeing & Kayaking: The various lakes around Lac Le Jeune offer plenty of opportunities for canoeing. Lac Le Jeune is one of the bigger lakes in a region characterized by hundreds of pocket-sized ponds, many of which provide serenity in the midst of splendid isolation.
Fishing: Try to catch the big one in Logan Lake or in one of the many lakes or streams in the area. Try fishing in Tunkway, Leighton, Bose, Gump, Paska, Face, or Dominic Lake, to mention just a few, all within 30 minutes of the town.
Golf: Meadow Creek Golf Club is located in a lush pine and aspen forest just east of Logan Lake on the Coquihalla Highway. The challenging 9-hole course (3,124 yards, par 36) is situated in a beautful natural setting within walking distance of downtown. Golf Vacations in British Columbia.
Hiking & Biking: Hike or bike on one of the many trails in the area, or venture into the network of backroads leading through quiet, tranquil countryside. Maggs Park is conveniently located between the centre of town and the lake, offering a hiking trail that circles Logan Lake. Recreation in the Thompson Okanagan.
Winter Activities: During winter, visitors to Logan Lake can take in some cross-country skiing on the 36 km of groomed trails, with 2 km lit for night skiing, or explore the vast tracks of Crown land surrounding Logan Lake by snowmobile. After that you could ice fish or ice skate on Logan Lake, watch a hockey game or curling match inside the Recreation Centre, or just enjoy the beautiful fresh air and sunshine experienced throughout most of the winter.
Winter Triathlon: Each winter a local ATV club in Logan Lake transforms the frozen surface of Logan Lake into a giant outdoor rink and the home of exciting winter events, including the Southern Regional Long-Track Speed-Skating Championships, a fun winter triathlon called Polarthon, and the Western Cup of Pond Hockey.
Snowmobiling: Snowmobilers should not miss the Snowrama, held annually in February. Events include hill climbs, poker runs, rallies, and scavenger hunts.
Test your aim and skill at the Clay Pigeon Shooting facility amongst the trees and hills of Logan Lake.
Two ATV events are held annually in the community: the Logan Lake ATV Poker Run in May and the ATV/BC Poker Run in June.
Little Britches Rodeo is an annual event hosted by the Logan Lake Ranch and Country Club each August. Contestants up to the age of 14 compete in events that include goat tying, stake races, barrel racing, pole bending, steer dobbing, calf tying, breakaway roping, dummy roping, and steer riding.
Farm Guide: Travellers looking for a down-to-earth experience can find a list of resources and activities featured in the Kamloops Farm Fresh Guide. The guide showcases the diversity of life in the Thompson Nicola region, which ranges from wine tasting to guided family horseback rides on a working cattle ranch. Visitors can use the guide (available from Tourism Kamloops) to locate area farmer’s markets and fall fairs, discover fresh-picked fruit and vegetables, farm-raised meat and eggs, and value-added products like honey and jellies.
South of Logan Lake is Merritt, the service centre for the ranch country of the Nicola Valley and an excellent base for exploring the many outdoor recreational opportunities in the area. Initially discovered by pioneers searching for a route between the Coast and the Interior, the valley was used as a brigade trail by the 1850s. What they discovered here was a vast expanse of grasslands where livestock could roam. The ensuing settlement originated at the meeting of the Nicola and Coldwater rivers, with ranchers, loggers, prospectors, merchants, and businessmen all making a living.
Northeast of Logan Lake is Kamloops, situated at the confluence of the North and South Thompson Rivers in the Thompson Valley. The sprawling city of Kamloops takes its name from the First Nations word T’kumlups, meaning meeting place. Water isn’t the only thing that meets here; the Trans-Canada, the Yellowhead and Highway 97 all meet in Kamloops, as do the two national rail lines, CP and CN.
Circle Tours: See the best of the area on Okanagan and Kootenay Rockies Circle Tour. Travel the sunny interior of British Columbia, north through the Okanagan to Sicamous, following Highway 1 into the mountains of the BC Rockies. From Golden, head south through the Columbia Valley to Creston, and west through the Southern Okanagan, starting and ending your sun-drenched voyage in Osoyoos, the place where two lakes come together. Circle Tours in British Columbia.
