The Chilcotin

Discover Canada's best kept secret - the Chilcotin. Explore secluded lakes of brilliant blue, glaciers old as time, vast evergreen forests and sprawling meadows filled with wildflowers.

This is British Columbia as you've always dreamed it.

“On a dark October night in 1934, two men pored over a series of maps on the floor of a bunkhouse at a Wyoming ranch, the darkness punctuated only by the light from a single flickering lamp. Rich Hobson, who had lost all his savings in the financial crash of 1929 and had decided to pursue his long-held dream of becoming a cowboy, and his friend ‘Panhandle Phillips’, who was an excellent horseman and an infamous prankster. In the dim light Pan pointed out to Rich a huge expanse of .... nothing. A completely unknown area in central British Columbia stretching from the Fraser River to the ocean, a wide open, mysterious, untamed wilderness. Legend had it that this place held the largest untracked grasslands anywhere. Fascinated, the two cowboys would eventually pack up and head for this place called Chilcotin, and against all odds eventually build the largest cattle ranch in North America. (Their story is recounted by Rich Hobson in his excellent and timeless book “Grass Beyond the Mountains”.)”

-West Chilcotin Tourism Association.

Strangely, that old map hasn’t changed much. Chilcotin remains one of the most untouched, pristine and lesser populated regions in North America, preserving this beautiful, raw wilderness for a precious few to enjoy. The Chilcotin is a land of unique beauty and diverse ecosystems, one of the most dramatic expanses of wilderness to be found anywhere in North America. A thousand hearty residents inhabit its 32M acres equating to one resident every 50 square miles. That vastness is why the region supports 17 unique ecosystems in its borders. Mountains, glaciers, rushing rivers and alpine lakes abound here. So does the wildlife. Bears, cougars, wolves, mountain goats, eagles and salmon call the Chilcotin home.

Once encountered, it’s never forgotten.

Chilko Lake

Laden with history, the landscape of Chilko Lake is rich, unspoiled and utterly unforgettable. We couldn’t be more excited to show you what we think is the most special place in the whole world.

The largest alpine lake in all of Canada, its shores are completely uninhabited, making it one of the most striking and unspoiled landscapes in British Columbia today. As the locals like to ponder: “Why go to Lake Louise when you can have Chilko Lake all to yourself”? 

The lake’s southern horizon is adorned with the majestic snow-capped Coastal Mountains that stretch north into Yukon territory and southerly, morphing into the Cascade Range from British Columbia into Washington and Oregon. Bears, wolves and bald eagles are abundant here, especially from mid-September through October when runs of up to a million salmon attract one of the highest concentrations of Grizzly bears in North America, not to mention hundreds of eagles that soar overhead, scouring for scraps.

If picture perfect, pristine and glorious Canadian wilderness is what you’re looking for,

you just found it.

Ts’ilʔos Provincial Park is part of the traditional territory of the Xeni Gwet’in, and offers visitors an opportunity to appreciate the area’s cultural history. The park contains historical evidence such as archaeological and burial sites, and areas where traditional uses such as hunting, trapping, food and medicine gathering still occur. Very little information about these resources has been recorded, although a lot is known verbally through the elders.

Ts’ilʔos, the imposing peak that dominates the park and gives it its name, is spiritually significant to the Xeni Gwet’in, and is celebrated in the legend of Ts’ilʔos. According to native tradition, Ts’ilʔos keeps watch over the people of the Xeni and their territory.