Joffre Lakes: Glaciers and Lakes Up Close

British Columbia is mostly covered with beautiful mountains and lakes. But still, there are few places nearby that have easy access to the mountains, with a well maintained trail and rewarding views. Joffre Lakes is a rare example, and as a result it tends to be extremely busy. This year BC Parks introduced a day pass system for this trail. Without getting into the question of whether it’s good or bad, it does limit the number of people. Not that the trail was empty or anything. Even in early October there were still lots of people out, but since we haven’t been there since I was pregnant with Neil seven years ago we figured a trip with the kids would be worth it. Neil’s also been showing interest in glaciers recently and was super excited that we’d actually get to see one. 

For me, more than anything, I wanted a weekend out of the city and one more night of camping. We had a lot of family visits this fall, which has been amazing, but we didn’t get to camp since we got back from Vancouver Island in early September. We had about a week between two visits, and although the weather for the weekend wasn’t spectacular, we figured it would be good enough for car camping.

We stopped at Nairn Falls for lunch and a short hike to the falls. Kai wasn’t so keen on hiking by himself and Neil agreed to entertain him by playing hide and seek. Then we made our way to Strawberry Point Rec Site just past Pemberton. There were maybe one or two other sites that were taken so we had a lot of options to choose from. No doubt about it – the summer camping rush was over.

We still had a few hours of daylight left, so we took our canoe out for a paddle on Lillooet Lake. Then Neil insisted that we must have a campfire so he started collecting sticks and pieces of wood. It was quite cold so a fire wasn’t a bad idea actually… It started raining as we got into the tent and the night was peaceful. After a yummy breakfast in the morning and another visit to the lake we packed up and made the short drive to the Joffre Lakes parking lot. 

When we were last there they were just building the new trail. Back then it seemed like a highway compared with the old trail. Now, it just looked like a trail again. We made sure to stop at all three lakes and the waterfall. It was a clear day and the views were outstanding. Kai hiked a fair amount on his own, but when the trail got steeper he asked to be carried. Neil hiked like a trooper, no complaints.

We broke the drive home at Flipside Burgers in Squamish – a place we discovered this winter through a friend in Vancouver (her brother is the owner). Not only are the burgers and fries supper yummy there is also a cidery next door, so we ordered the taster set. We got home late and happy that we took advantage of one more weekend out of the city.