Mabel Lake Provincial Park

Mabel Lake is the North Okanagan’s big-beach detour: a very large fine-sand beach with a buoyed swim area, worth the 36 km drive up Mabel Lake Road from Lumby. Shaded picnic tables, a playground and 16 flush toilets take care of a long day, and a designated dog beach means the dog is welcome too. Boaters have a concrete launch. There are no lifeguards. The gate is open roughly April to October, and the lot holds about 45 vehicles. The campground is a destination in its own right: 114 reservable sites in three loops — Monashee, Trinity and Taylor Creek — plus a group site, with 16 flush toilets, nine water taps, fire rings and a concrete boat launch and dock beside the marina; the 1 km 'Changing Rainforest' interpretive trail winds through moss-carpeted cedar and hemlock between the sites, and painted turtles bask at Taylor Creek. Gate opening dates depend on snow.