Twenty Mile Bay, Britsh Columbia


June 15 2018
Camping and Hiking at Twenty Mile Bay
Posted by Emilie

Chris and I decided to spend the weekend at the Twenty Mile Bay campground on the north west side of Harrison Lake. To get there, we drove from Vancouver to Harrison Mills, then took an approximately 35km logging road up to the campground.

On the logging road, we saw the damage caused by last year's wild fire.

The road was also a bit rough - I was glad we had our new cargo net holding all our gear in place.

The car was also a bit dirty when we arrived.

Our campsite was surrounded by large trees and a peak-a-boo view of the water.

Stepping over a large fallen log put us right on the pebbled beach.

The water was a bit cold, but great for a quick dip. There were lots of little fish to watch by the shore and larger fish jumping in the distance.

On Sunday, with bear spray in hand, we decided to try the Twenty Mile Bay hike. The only information I could find on the hike ahead of time was,

"Enjoy the nature hike along an old road bed heading north from the property. There are breathtaking views along this route. This trail is approximately 6 km return and takes 2.5 hours to complete. It is well worth the hike as you explore the many different views and the beauty of nature along its path."

I had hoped for a bit more information about the hike upon arrival at the campground, but the only additional piece of information the campsite host was able to provide was the exact location of the trailhead. (The starting point is just beyond the campground entrance/exit off the main logging road)

When we arrived at the Twenty Mile Bay hike trail head, there were some fallen logs to climb over. We were a little hesitant to go over them because the other side looked more like an old, overgrown road rather than an actual trail. But after scrambling over the logs and walking through the thin brush for a few minutes, the path started to clear. We noticed some bear scat, so I pulled the bear spray out of Chris's pack and held it in my hand at the ready (which is likely where it should have been in the first place!).

Soon into the hike we came to a fork in the overgrown road. Having no trail information, we decided to try the right-hand side. We came upon an old over-turned car that was interesting to look at, as well as something else that was rusted out but we couldn't figure out what it was. After some inspection, we decided it was an old car trailer. The trail fork we chose ended up leading us to a dead-end after about 10 minutes of walking, so we turned around and tried the other fork.

Down the left-hand side of the fork, through the trees, we could see snippets of Lake Harrison far below us. Our path was also covered in raspberry vines and both deer and bear scat (I held my bear spray a little tighter and started talking louder). After walking for about an hour, we weren't sure what more we would see, so we decided to turn around and head back.

Overall, it was an ok hike. It was nice to be the only people on a quiet trail, but it didn't have the spectacular views I was hoping for. I was also a little concerned about running into a bear, given all the fresh berries around and what appeared to be a few game trails.

Upon returning to our campsite, we had some breakfast then headed back to Vancouver.