The best camping near Wells Gray Provincial Park

This expansive provincial park in the Cariboo Mountains of north-central British Columbia is known for its waterfalls. Wells Gray Provincial Park has more than 40 rushing cascades, many of which are easy to reach with short hikes from the park’s main corridor road, which is also where three of the park’s four frontcountry campgrounds are located: Pyramid, Clearwater Lake, and Falls Creek. The fourth, Mahood Lake Campground, which has the park’s warmest swimming area, is in Wells Gray’s southwestern corner. The park’s best known waterfall, Helmcken Falls, is the fourth highest in Canada. Two long adjacent glacier-fed lakes, Clearwater and Azure Lakes, are beautiful canoeing destinations with wilderness campsites around the water. More canoe-accessible backcountry campsites are set around Murtle Lake, on the park’s east side.

• Best for nearby waterfall viewing: Pyramid Campground
• Best for combining lakes, waterfalls, and hikes: Clearwater Lake Campground
• Best for warm(ish) lake swims: Mahood Lake Campground

1. Online reservations for Wells Gray’s Pyramid, Clearwater Lake, Falls Creek, and Mahood Lake campgrounds are normally accepted up to four months in advance through BC Parks’ Discover Camping website.
2. You can choose from more than 100 of the park’s 164 vehicle-accessible sites that are reservable throughout the park’s main camping season; the rest are first-come, first-served. Try to arrive early in the day if you don’t have a campsite reservation.
3. Reservations aren’t accepted for the park’s 126 wilderness, water-access campsites.

The main camping season runs from mid-May through September. Spring can be unsettled and often rainy, although by June, the weather usually warms. July and August can be surprisingly hot, while September has some of the park’s most comfortable conditions, with little rain and mild temperatures. In winter, the park can be chilly and wet, similar to the Pacific Coast, or frigid and snowy—be prepared. The Pyramid and Mahood Lake campgrounds stay open during the winter but have no water or other services.

• The main entrance to Wells Gray Provincial Park is off Highway 5 at the town of Clearwater, between Kamloops (which also has the closest airport) and Valemount, along the most direct route between Vancouver and Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies.
• Wells Gray is vast, and there are limited services within the park boundaries. You can buy food and other supplies in Clearwater, at the park’s southern end. If you’re coming from Vancouver or the Pacific Coast, another good place to stock up is in the city of Kamloops, at the junction of Highways 1 and 5.
• Only the Spahats Creek day-use area, where it's a short walk to Spahats Falls, has flush toilets. The campgrounds and other park locations have only pit toilets. Spahats Creek is 10 kilometres (six miles) north of Clearwater, along the park’s main corridor road.
• You can’t reach Mahood Lake Campground, in Wells Gray’s southwestern corner, from the corridor road. Access is from Highway 97, near the town of 100 Mile House.