The Prettiest Summer Camping Spot at Jones Lake, BC
We've had such a fun summer exploring our home province of British Columbia! One of our goals was to spend more time getting to know BC outside of Vancouver this summer. We've been to the Sunshine Coast, Vancouver Island, stayed at an airstream resort on the Gulf Islands, and went wine tasting in the Okanagan. So to top off a great summer, we went camping at Jones Lake! It was the best weekend full of friends, canoeing, no cell reception, and a meteor shower.
Getting to Jones Lake, BC
There are a lot of places to camp in BC, but Jones Lake outside of Chilliwack, BC might be one of the best! It's only about a two hour drive from the city, which is perfect for weekend camping. To get there, you'll drive about 20 minutes east of Chilliwack towards Hope, BC (you can view the map and directions here). There's two camp site, Jones Lake Main and Jones Lake West, and the best part is that camping is free!
But be warned: you need some serious all wheel drive or a 4x4 to get there! The driving conditions are pretty brutal (think pot holes and 9km uphill) but if you have the right car, you're set.
This spot is kind of incredible, because you get an amazing view of the mountains with the serenity of the calm lake, plus some rolling green hills for good measure. It's a PNW dream, and we had so much fun just hanging out with our friends and waking up to spend sunrise on the water in a canoe.
We had friends from all over gather, from our besties from Seattle to new friends from San Francisco, and it was made even more wonderful because of the meteor shower! There's no cell reception, so you're kind of forced to just live in the moment with nature, which was great.
Summer camping essentials include guitars, a canoe, sunscreen, and bare feet. We got lucky and Jones Lake had no mosquitoes!
There was a ton of frogs and tadpoles, and we could canoe all over the lake to explore the nature around us and get to know our friends more. Songs by the fire and campfire cooking just made it such a relaxing and fun weekend.
We can't wait to enjoy more lakes and camping this fall, if you have a favorite camping spot or lake in BC let us know! There's still a bit of summer left...
Probably the best part of camping was the star gazing at night; we got to see shooting stars, a vibrant sky, and enjoy the meteor shower in total darkness. There's nothing else like it :)