Glimpse Lake
Glimpse Lake is in the forest at the upper edge of the Douglas Lake grasslands. To get to the lake, turn onto the Douglas Lake Road at Nicola Lake and climb through the ranchlands for 7 km, then turn left onto the Lauder Road. Follow the Lauder Road for 16 km as it passes the Lauder Ranch and a section of the Nicola Lake Indian Reserve. At the starting edge of the lake at a cattleguard, a signed sideroad goes into Glimpse Lake Southwest Rec Site. It is a shady site with 8 campsites and a shallow shoreline.
The main road goes around to the north side of the lake and there is a good public boat launch for fishermen (electric motors only) and paddlers. There is also an open-forested recreation site (Glimpse Lake North) farther along the road with 17 campsites.
Paddlers can hand launch at either Rec Site, but the main boat launch is a good one and a better choice for both parking, launching, and landing. The paddle around the shoreline is about 6 km.
There are extensive shallows in the lake and in fall, the lake was down a couple of feet so paddlers have to be careful to stay out of the reeds, milfoil, and mud. The lake is popular with fishermen so it is best to pick non-prime times to visit the lake. A sign at the boat launch states that 12 000 Pennask rainbow trout were stocked in the lake.
The paddle around Glimpse Lake is a peaceful retreat off-season and a good choice for canoes or kayaks. In addition, the drive up the Lauder Road is a scenic one. The Charles Beaks cabin is passed not far above the Nicola River.
The Lauder Road climbs up through the open grasslands of the Douglas Plateau.
It is possible to return by backroads past Peterhope Lake too, but bring a current topo map and/or a GPS to navigate that route. I chose to backtrack, taking the time to enjoy the views along the way.