Spectrum Lake Trail (Monashee Provincial Park)

Spectrum Lake is the North Okanagan's gateway to true mountain wilderness: a 6 km trail into Monashee Provincial Park that BC Parks rates easy and times at about two hours one way, on a hard-packed, three-foot-wide tread with boardwalks and bridges over the wet ground, through Douglas fir, lodgepole pine, birch, cedar and hemlock to a moss-carpeted lakeshore with 16 tent platforms, shelters and food caches. Partway in, two viewing platforms hang over Spectrum Creek at Rainbow Falls, one looking down the whole drop and one close enough to feel the spray. Strong hikers keep going: the Little Peters Trail climbs 5 km of steep switchbacks and alder-choked avalanche chutes out of the basin (3 to 4 hours, rated difficult), the Big Peters Trail rolls on through subalpine spruce and fir to Big Peters Lake 13 km from the trailhead (about 800 metres of climbing in all), and beyond that lie Margie Lake, Fawn Lake and the 2,697-metre summit of Mount Fosthall, where caribou, wolverine and pikas share the meadows. Dogs are not permitted anywhere in the park, to protect the red-listed mountain caribou; mountain bikes are not permitted on the trail, horses are. Backcountry camping is first come, first served at $5 per person per night. Getting there is part of the commitment: Highway 6 east through Lumby to Cherryville, 46 km up Sugar Lake Road to the km-22 turnoff, then 16 km of Spectrum Creek Forest Service Road to the trailhead parking lot, with active logging traffic on both roads and a log-sorting area that can trouble low-clearance vehicles. The park is open year-round when the road allows, and subzero temperatures are common in the subalpine even in summer, so pack for weather.