CENTRAL BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 560

home to around 600 bighorn sheep. The confluence of these two major rivers forms the
southern tip of the park and can be reached on foot in well under one hour from the end of
the access road.
Back on Highway 20, the first community with services is Alexis Creek, 114 kilometers
(71 miles) west of Williams Lake. Beside the Chilcotin River, 10 kilometers (6.2 miles)
west of Alexis Creek, is Bull Canyon Provincial Park (no reservations, $16, May-early
Sept.), at a bend in the Chilcotin River.
Continuing west, the highway follows the Chilcotin River for 60 kilometers (37 miles)
to Chilanko Forks; here a spur road leads 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north to Puntzi Lake.
This picturesque body of water is home to a number of low-key fishing resorts, including
Kokanee Bay Fishing Resort (250/481-1130, www.kokaneebayfishingresort.com , camp-
ing $25, cabins $95-145 s or d), with everything an angler needs and a congenial dining hall
open for breakfast ($15) and dinner ($30). The largest of the seven lakefront cabins come
with basic cooking facilities. If you plan on rising early to fish for kokanee, make arrange-
ments to rent a motorboat the night before.
Chilko Lake
Continuing toward the coast, Highway 20 continues westward to Tatla Lake, which is also
the turnoff to remote Ts'yl-os Provincial Park. Pronounced SIGH-loss, Ts'yl-os is the
Chilcotin name for the park's highest peak, 3,066-meter (10,060-foot) Mount Tatlow, but
its most magnificent feature is 84-kilometer-long (52-mile-long), glacially fed Chilko Lake,
which is ringed by the highest peaks of the Coast Mountains. The park is home to a wide
variety of wildlife, including grizzly and black bears, bighorn sheep, and, at higher eleva-
tions, mountain goats. Fishing in the lake is legendary for rainbow trout (to 2.7 kilograms/
six pounds).
Toward the Coast
From Tatla Lake, Highway 20 veers northward, climbing steadily to Nimpo and Anahim
Lakes, where more self-contained resorts put the emphasis on fishing. Anglers will be
tempted to linger at Anahim Lake Resort (250/742-3242 or 800/667-7212,
www.anahimlakeresort.com , May-Oct., camping $28-32, cabins $95-145 s or d), where
rainbow trout fishing is consistently good throughout summer. All but one of the eight cab-
ins share a communal bathroom facility, but they all have a woodstove, fridge, running wa-
ter, and screened-in veranda.
From Anahim Lake, the road narrows, the pavement ends, and it's a steady 30-kilometer
(19-mile) climb to 1,524-meter (5,000-foot) Heckman Pass over the Coast Mountains.