Small Groups
Greater access to your expert local guide for a more intimate and personalised experience.
Bowron Lakes Canoeing
10-day canoeing tour
from CAD $3056†
(†This price includes taxes and fees. Optional single supplements or equipment rentals may increase the price.)
from CAD $3056†
$2825 + 3% booking fee + 5% Goods & Services Tax
Besides its natural beauty, the Bowron Lakes are a wildlife sanctuary. Paddlers may see beavers, bears, otters, and moose feeding by the waterways.The Bowron River estuary is a birdwatcher’s paradise with an immense variety of bird life, including coots, mergansers, widgeon, mallards and Canadian geese. Campsites along the Bowron Lakes, set aside for our sole use, ensure the solitude so necessary for a meaningful wilderness experience.
Starting in Vancouver, we carry you to the Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit along some of BC's most scenic highways before immersing you in the rich nature of the Caribou Region in Bowron Lakes Provincial Park. We are in cabins the first night before heading onto the lakes. When we take off the lake chain, we look to stop in Barkerville on our way to a good sleep in Quesnel or Williams Lake, before our final scenic drive back to Vancouver.
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Activity Level Moderately strenuous
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Group Size Medium
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Canoeing Experience Beginner/Novice
THE SEA TO SKY ADVANTAGE
35+ years of leading expeditions. Nutritious and delicious foods are our specialty. Our guides go beyond leading and transport you to a new place.
35+Years Experience
Thousands of delighted guests with many returning for more. Experience the Sea to Sky difference and find out why.
Certified Guides
Enthusiastic and knowledgeable, our guides offer invaluable source of information on local culture, history and sights making your trip one of a kind.
Itinerary
- Day 0 and 1 Pick up and travel to Bowron Lakes Provincial Park
- Day2 Bowron Lakes Provincial Park-getting on the circuit
- Day 3 To Wolverine Bay
- Day 4 To Isaac Lake
- Day 5 To the head of Isaac River
- Day 6 To Turner Creek
- Day 7 To Unna Lake and Cariboo Falls
- Day 8 To Pat Point, Spectacle Lake
- Day 9 To Bowron Lake and drive into Williams Lake
- Day 10 Drive Back to Vancouver
inclusions and exclusions at a glance
What's included in this tour Items that are covered in the cost of tour price.
- Transportation from Richmond, BC (Vancouver Airport) and return
- Cabin accommodation at a local resort before our canoe departure
- Motel accommodation in Quesnel or Williams Lake on return
- Canoes and paddling gear (pfd, paddle, gumboots, etc.)
- Canoe cart
- Canoeing dry pack (portage pack) and dry bags
- Snacks/beverages on the expedition
- All meals while on the canoeing portion**
- Meal preparation
- Camping fees
- Exceptional guides
- Cooking gear/camp stoves/water filtration
- Tents & tarps
- Emergency radio/satellite phone/major first aid supplies
- †We can provide sleeping bags & sleeping pads for rent
**You will be responsible for food you may want on travel days
What's not included in this tour Items that are NOT covered in the cost of tour price.
- Transportation to point of origin, transfers, personal equipment, accommodation and food other than included in the itinerary.
- Gratuities are not included. Our guides make every effort to ensure your holiday is all you expected and more. Recognition of a job well done is always appreciated; $10-20/day per guide is recommended.
- Single tents †(available for a single supplement charge)
Getting to the pickup location
Wells, BC
Many of the major North American carriers fly into Vancouver. Check with your travel agent for options. Getting to Wells/Bowron Lakes Provincial Park means driving from Vancouver or Calgary, or flying into Williams Lake or Prince George, then renting a vehicle for the drive to Wells/Bowron. Pacific Coastal Airlines and Central Mountain Air fly from Vancouver and Victoria to Williams Lake. WestJet, Air Canada and Pacific Coastal fly into Prince George. (Rental cars from Williams Lake are more than twice as much as from Prince George. We make courtesy pick ups and drop offs in Williams Lake at specific times.)
Places to stay and other details
Wells, BC
Wells, BC Pick Up/Meet
Our official starting point for the Bowron Lakes Canoeing tour is at Bear River Mercantile on Bowron Lake. We will pick up in Williams Lake and Quesnel on the afternoon before we start the tour as a courtesy.
Flying to Williams Lake:
Pacific Coastal Air, Westjet, and Central Mountain Air fly to Williams Lake
Pacific Coastal Air
WestJet
Central Mountain Air
Rental cars are available at Williams Lake Airport, but they are very expensive.
Flying to Quesnel:
Central Mountain Air
Flying to Prince George and renting a car:
Pacific Coastal Air
Air Canada
WestJet
Rental cars:
Enterprise
National
Bear River Mercantile
Our first night should be in the cabins or tents at Bear River Mercantile (Their operations may be limited in 2024). We will orient ourselves to the canoe circuit, the gear and the important safety aspects of the tour.
Parking is available at the park.
You don't need to have paddled before. Experience helps, but we will show you everything you need along the way. Our guides will assist you and teach you basic paddling skills.
In Canada, where are there NOT bugs? Fortunately, we are not deep in the forest or muskeg, where the mosquitoes and/or blackflies cover you like a blanket. Typically, if there is a breeze, there are no bugs. If it is calm, there are bugs. On the actual west coast, there are relatively few mosquitos and no-seeums, but some. It is helpful to have a bug net for your head and some bug spray with you.
There is never an intention for you to flip and get soaked, but sometimes it happens. We provide you with dry bags for your clothing and gear. We also show you how to properly use them to make sure your things stay dry.
Tips, or gratuities, are not mandatory. However, please consider what service is actually being given to you. While you might think that the company should just pay the guides better, it is not so simple. We do work in a competitive market, and pay rates are a function of the trip prices. If we could double prices, we would pay guides significantly better. At Sea to Sky, we have some of the better pay rates in the industry, and we are always pushing our competitors to increase pay rates for guides, but there is only so much we can do. Guides are seasonal workers. They shift off of their summer season to winter activities, or fill in with retail work, which is usually little more than minimum wage, often to periods of no work between seasonal jobs. It is a hard job, and wearing on the body.
The guides carry most of the group gear, so they have heavier loads than you have, all for you, because they would not be carrying much of the extras on a personal trip. Your guides are teaching you, helping you through challenges, cooking for you and serving you your meals, providing a safety envelope for you, and if you have a really good guide, they are filling you up with a deeper experience of being in the place you are visiting by telling you about the flora, fauna and history of the place.
So, how much should you tip your guides?
If you ate every meal out in a day, at a good, but low-cost restaurant, you would probably tip between $10 and $15 per day. If you were travelling and visiting a city and ate all your meals out, this is about how much you would tip for the day, low end. I would submit that the guides are feeding you all three meals in a day, AND serving you in so many more ways. That makes $10-$15 a day a minimum consideration, really. 10% to 15% of a trip price has been another rule of thumb that has been used. If your trip price is $2000, then $200 to $300 split between the guides is reasonable, and falls within that standard. Like most humans, guides are motivated when they are recognized and valued.
Your circumstances matter. If you are a student and clearly struggled to put together the cost of the trip, or have other circumstances that limit your ability to tip, guides understand and honour your appreciation, no matter what the size. However, if you have a large income or high net worth and means, a small tip might be a slap in the face. If you have means and you clearly and vocally appreciated the guides and all they did, and then leave a $50 tip after a 7 to 9 day trip, that amount would probably be insulting. If you have a fairly large income or net worth, you likely spend it on higher end restaurants, and maybe higher cost wine, drinks or desserts. You might even give a $50 tip for a dinner meal out-for ONE meal, so just consider your ability to tip and the level of service you received over the whole trip.
The largest tip any of our guides has received from one person is $1,500.00 for a 9-day trip. This was highly unusual, and was because we went way out of the way to replace her boots in the middle of the trail because her boots were falling apart, and was on top of paying for the boots and the transport out to the trail. That was extraordinary service, and an extraordinary tip. On average, guides usually receive about $75 to $125 from each guest for each guide.
At Sea to Sky, we also split the tips between the lead and assistant guides, and proportionally with any drivers. We have a strong culture of teamwork and both the lead and assistant guides play essential roles for you, so we ensure both share equally in the tips for the trip. Tips are not shared or taken by owners and managers not on your trip, unless you send it separately and specify it is for service before or after a trip.
What should I wear? What clothes are suitable?
For any wilderness adventure, "layering" is one of the most critical concepts.
Layering clothing can have several advantages:
Temperature regulation: Layering allows you to adjust your level of warmth by adding or removing layers as needed. This can be especially useful in unpredictable weather or in environments with fluctuating temperatures.
Comfort: Layering can help you stay comfortable in a range of temperatures and activities. For example, if you're going for a hike, you can wear a base layer to wick sweat away from your skin, a mid layer for insulation, and a outer layer to protect against wind and rain.
Versatility: Layering allows you to mix and match different pieces of clothing to create different looks and adapt to different situations.
Style: Layering can add depth and interest to your outfit, allowing you to express your personal style and create a polished look.
Protection: Layering can also provide protection against the elements, such as wind, rain, and cold temperatures.