kamyandheather

Hello,

I am planning a trip from San Francisco to either British Columbia or Alberta. I am hoping to find a house on a lake in the wilderness with good fishing and swimming close by. There will be three children ranging from my age of 2 to 8 and 6 adults. Banff seems like a beautiful place, I have been reading about Lake Louise and areas in western Aleberta that sound amazing. Does anyone have any suggestions? A stopover in Vancouver is definetly on the inteneary.
Any suggestions on travel ideas in that general area is appreciated!

sunbum1944

Banff and Lake Louise are not exactly wilderness - if you are looking for a wilderness experience I would not suggest those areas although they are beautiful and worth seeing for sure.

I have family that live on Kootenay Lake ( Nelson BC is on the lake) It
is not exactly wilderness but certainly less touristy than Banff and Lake Louise

There are several family resorts on the lake- we out in the boat one day and I think we were the only boat on the lake.
The Slocan Valley is close by and very beautiful - so that might be an alternate or at least a stop on the way to Banff . My cousin owns a rental house on the lake but I am sure its booked for the summer -

Judy_in_Calgary

Sunbum1944 is correct in saying that Banff and Lake Louise are not wilderness, if you take that to mean the town off Banff and the village of Lake Louise. Banff National Park, in which those towns are situated is a wilderness. But therein lies the problem. Because it's a national park, building is restricted. I don't know of a house on a lake anywhere in Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Aside from that, if there <b>were</b> a house on a lake in Banff or Jasper National Park, it wouldn't provide you with swimming facilities because you'd quickly die of hyptothermia. Well you could swim with special gear - wet suits and such. But I don't imagine that's what you have in mind. (You could bathe in one of the several hot springs in the mountains, however.)

I think the Kootenay and Slocan Valleys, which sunbum1944 mentioned, are much more likely to give you something closer to the experience you're looking for.

The Okanagan Valley is a neat place for a family swimming / fishing vacation. The most popular towns there are Kelowna and Penticton. However, they aren't wilderness areas either.

A place where you can find wilderness is the Shuswap Lake. The main towns for accessing it are Sicamous and Salmon Arm. Our family has had three delightful vacations on houseboats on Shuswap Lake, but we did wait until our younger child was a confident swimmer before we did that. I think you may be able to find a house at Shuswap Lake.

People who are more BC-savvy than I am may have additional ideas.

kamyandheather

Thank you sooo much! I will be revising my search.

traveller69

Don't rule out Vancouver Island! There are great spots that have what you are looking for. Check out the Comox Campbell River area and spots north as well as some of the islands in the area. Fishing is great and there are lots of beach areas. Have you checked out the website VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) I don't know what is listed in each area but you can check them all out. Its a great website for vacation rentals. Just click on Canada and then BC. The areas are all listed - like Quadra Island etc and the descriptions are there. If you have further questions about the area just ask back here on this board and we can tell you where they are. I think the Quadra Island area (by Campbell River) is the sort of thing you are looking for. In the Okanagan try places like Vernon. Good luck and just ask if you want further info.

Sam_Salmon

The Caribbo/Chilcotin area has all kinds of options.www.bcadventure.com for more info.

http://www.conservancy.bc.ca/section...cottagerentals
has some interesting options

tom22

I can recommend the northern parts of BC for more remote orientated trips.

Take a loolk under
www.lakesdistrictair.com/coles.html

They have good packages and I can recommend their services.

ltt

kootney lakes area is really nice. you can find some nice secluded spots and plenty of lakes to choose from. the nelson/nakusp area are great.

LJ

If this is still in the decision stage, allow me to chime in with a vote for the Salmon Arm/Shushwap area. It is amazing; answering your desire for wilderness beauty as well as offering some civilzation for good restaurants et al.

Carmanah

The Cariboo region would be my suggestion - go along the old Cariboo Trail (aka: the trail used during the gold rush!)

There are lakes for swimming/fishing between Kamloops and 100 Mile House (ie: Bridge Lake, Lac Des Roches, etc)

further north you could head to Barkerville and then to Bowron Lakes.

Carmanah

Before I forget, you should take a look at www.britishcolumbia.com for an excellent break-down of all the regions (and towns/cities) in BC. It will give you a better idea of what's offered through this diverse province!

David_II

If you want wilderness, fishing and swimming... checkout the many lakes around the town of Kamloops in the interior of BC. Kamloops is about one third of the way from Vancouver to Banff. The area is famous for the fighting Kamloops trout.

One lake that comes to mind (and there are probably close to 100 lakes in the area) is Lac Le Jeune.

See http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Columbia.html

Vancouver is also a great place to stop with kids. http://findfamilyfun.com lists a ton of stuff that can be done with kids in Vancouver.

Also don't forget a stop in Seattle.