The campground at Silver Lake Provincial Park is a beautiful small camping area close to Hope in BC, Canada. I have to admit, I had not heard of this campground before we visited, but I really loved it (and the hikes nearby) so I am sure we’ll go back to stay here another time!

I couldn’t find much information or photos about this area online, so I thought I should share some details for other happy campers in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland.

Silver Lake Provincial Park location

Silver Lake (and the campground) are located 12km south of Hope along the Silver Skagit Road. So, about 1 hour 50 minutes from Vancouver. The forest service road leading to the park is in very good shape, so you should be able to get here easily with any 2WD vehicle.

Silver Lake Provincial Park map

Facilities:

The BC Parks website says there are 25 sites (including 3 double sites) within the campground. Each site has trees around it so you get a little privacy (although it’s not quite as private as some other Provincial Park campgrounds like Lightning Lake. We had a regular-size campsite and there was more than enough room for us to park 2 cars and set up 2 tents.
– There are pit loos in the Camping area and day use area
– It’s aimed at car campers, so there are no bear caches. People leave food in their cars (and of course, keep the campsite clean to avoid bear visitors)
– Each campsite has a fire pit. You can buy bundles of wood from the Provincial Park employees.
– There are 2 pumps for water (one was broken when we visited.)
– Don’t expect good cell signal here.

Booking a campsite at Silver Lake Park

Like all the BC Provincial Campgrounds, you can book a spot at Silver Lake campground via the BC Discover Camping website. This year, campsites come available 2 months before the date when you’d like to camp at 7am. Silver Lake is less famous than some of the other super popular places to camp, so I managed to reserve a week before we visited.

Each campsite costs $18 plus a $6 reservation fee.
If you’d like to park more than one car, it’ll cost an extra $9 (payable to the BC parks employee who’ll come around to see everyone)
Firewood is $12 for a bundle.

Wait, what is car camping?

Car camping doesn’t mean you sleep in the car. It just means you carry all your camping equipment in the car and park right next to where you set up your campsite. Marc and I really like this style of camping as it means we can be a bit luxurious with things like real pillows. It also allows us to use the fire pits to cook more elaborate food (we can even use our cast iron pan) than we carry into the back country.

Cooking on a campfire

On this occasion we weren’t super fancy (we just made hot dogs with fried onions, along with baked brie and tomatoes with basil and balsamic vinaigrette.) We finished our evening with smores. I think this might be an official rule when you camp in North America.

Silver Lake Provincial Park day use area

We arrived in the afternoon (after our hike to Eaton Lake.) When we first arrived we were tired, hungry and needed to set up our tents, so we didn’t actually have a look at Silver Lake. The campground is a few hundred meters away from the lake. So, the following morning we went over to take a peek at the scenery by Silver Lake.

Silver Lake Park views

Look at this! Silver Lake looks incredible early in the morning. The lake is surrounded by mountains that are reflected perfectly on the still waters of the lake.

The Silver Lake Park day use area has plenty of parking, picnic benches and loos. It looks like it would be a lovely place to visit on a hot day to go for a swim.

Silver Lake trail

There is an easy to follow trail from the day use area along the side of the lake. It’s a great spot to stretch your legs and take a peek at the mountains, including Wells Peak. The trail is very good at the start but gets more wild and bushwack-y the further along you go.

Salmonberries

If you visit in springtime, watch out for salmonberries along the side of the lake! There were loads of juicy, tasty berries. We saved most of them for the local birds and bears, but I couldn’t resist trying a few. They taste a bit like grapefruit in berry form.

Would you swim at Silver Lake?

I was in awe of the views over to Wells Peak from Silver Lake. The water is a little cold, but it must be an incredible area for a swim on hot days. I’d like to swim while looking at this view!

After our mini explanation of Silver Lake Provincial Park, we used the hand pump to refill our water bottles and headed on to our next adventure.

Hikes near Silver Lake Park

If you decide to camp at Silver Lake campground for a few days, there are a bunch of fantastic trails nearby! I loved Eaton Lake for the waterfalls and alpine lake. Other than that, there are easy trails to Flood Falls and Bridal Veil Falls if you fancy easy family friendly hikes to waterfalls. If you want a quick workout that finished with a fabulous view, try the Hope Lookout trail. Or, if you fancy a mix of history and epic canyons, try the Hope Nicola Valley trail that goes through the amazing Othello Tunnels.

I have a map on my Canada page if you want even more ideas for trails near here.

What do you think? Do you like the idea of car camping at Silver Lake near Hope and exploring this incredible area? Or do you prefer packing up your things and carrying them into the backcountry for camping? If you like the look of it all, please click on the pins below to save this for later.