In my last post, I shared our experience camping at the Cathedral Provincial Park. In this post, I will share about the beautiful Cathedral Lakes Rim Trail hike.
We arrived at the Lake of the Woods campsite at Cathedral Provincial Park on July 22. The forecast for July 23 was clear, but showers were expected for July 24/25. So, we decided to do the Rim Trail on July 23. Three families in the BCMC group chose to do this hike together while other members explored different areas of the park.
Ladyslipper Lake
The next day, on July 23, we left our campsite at Lake of the Woods around 8 am. Within the first twenty minutes, there were two trail junctions, and we followed the signs for Ladyslipper Lake.
The trail gets steeper past the second trail junction and climbs 200 m over a km. Then, the trail drops down to Ladyslipper Lake. It’s a beautiful lake bigger than Lake of the Woods and Pyramid Lake.
Lorena and her son were much faster than the rest of the group, so they continued their hike to Stone City.
Stone City
After a short break, we continued hiking along the east side of the Lake, and at the first junction, we took the trail to our left to Stone City. As we climbed higher, the trees became sparse, and we were in exposed terrain.
The climb to Stone City seemed never-ending, and the kids were mentally exhausted, resulting in more frequent breaks.
Higher up, the trail flattened out for a bit, providing some relief before the final climb to Stone City.
It took us about three hours from the Lake of the Woods campsite to reach Stone City. Although we had done less than half the distance of the rim trail, it was a relief for the kids to know that we had completed most of the elevation gain.
From here, we had an option to do the roughly 2 km (round trip) hike to Smokey the Bear and Giant Cleft, but given the energy level of the group and the hike ahead, we decided to continue on the rim trail. Later, as we met Lorena and her son, we learned they had taken this short detour from Stone City.
Quiniscoe Mountain
After a 20-minute lunch break, we continued on the rim trail to Quiniscoe Mountain.
The terrain was quite different up here, and thanks to a clear day, we had beautiful 360-degree views. From Devil’s Wood Pile, we had a spectacular view of Ladyslipper Lake.
As we continued on the trail, we saw Glacier Lake. A trail went down to Glacier Lake and was one of the options I had considered if we had to shorten the hike. But everyone was doing okay, and we continued on the rim trail.
Around 12:30 pm (four and half hours from trailhead), we were at the Quiniscoe Mountain summit. From the summit, all the four lakes were visible.
Red Mountain
Further on the trail, Celeste, Keith, Chloe and Keira decided to take the trail down to Quiniscoe Lake and then hike back to our campsite. We decided to continue our hike to Red Mountain.
It was a short hike on the boulder field to reach Red Mountain’s summit. We yelled out Chloe and Keira’s names and waved at them, and they waved back.
We had to hike down an even bigger boulder field on our way down from Red Mountain. Some people prefer to tackle this difficult section early in their hike (doing the hike anti-clockwise). With the kids hiking up this terrain early in the day, it would have been challenging.
It took us about 20-25 minutes to come down the boulder field, and we were relieved when it was done. Further ahead, it was a goat trail in some sections, but it was still easy to follow and relatively flat.
Eventually, we got on the Centennial Trail and got back to Cathedral Lakes Lodge. I hoped to get some ice cream for Kavya at the lodge, but surprisingly, they didn’t have any. So we just got a muffin and hiked back to Lake of the Woods campsite.
It took us just over seven hours to finish the 15.6 km hike with about 891 m of cumulative elevation gain (per my Coros watch). It was a unique hike and one of my most beautiful hikes with family in BC.
Although Kavya and the kids have done longer hikes, this was one of the most strenuous hikes they had done, and they did really well. Kavya, Chloe and Keira enjoyed a well-deserved swim in the lake.
Later in the evening, we had a small get-together with the BCMC group. Aloke and Margaret had hiked to Ladyslipper Lake and back. Greg, Vanessa, Cheryl, and Kara did the Lakeview Mountain hike. I did this hike the next day and will post it next.
Territory Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge that this trip took place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples, Similamix and Smelqmix People. I commit to learning about Indigenous peoples and issues and making reconciliation an ongoing effort.
Source: Native-Land, Similkameen Valley
Pronunciation Guide: First Nations.info, A Guide to Pronunciation of BC First Nations
Resources:
First Nations Website: Lower Similkameen Indian Band
Cathedral Park: BC Parks Website | Backcountry Permit | Cathedral Parks Lodge
BC Mountaineering Club: BCMC Website | Cathedral Park Trip
Weather: Yr.No | Windy | SpotWx
AdventureSmart: Trip Planning
Disclosure: The links I have shared in the post and under the Resources section are not Affiliate Links.
Did you enjoy reading this post? Please subscribe to get weekly updates. Please share your feedback in the comments section below. Thank you!
