To paddle Kamloops Lake we can launch from Savona, Tobiano, or Cooney Bay.   For those in a kayak or canoe, we drive past Tranquille, staying left at Tranquille on the Lake, following a bumpy road for 1 km down to the parking area.

The trail to Cooney Bay has a number of large fallen trees down now so it is now single file down to the gravel beach.

The loop we choose to do varies each time, but for the first time of the season, we usually paddle around the corner past the outlet of Tranquille River and then along the beach,  following the contour of Cooney Bay and then we head west along the rocky shoreline out to Battle Bluff.   On this day, there was little wind so the hills reflected into the calm lake.

The dramatic cliffs of Battle Bluff make an interesting paddling destination.

If the winds are light, we cross the lake just past Battle Bluff.   Crossing Kamloops Lake is best done in a seaworthy kayak and only on a calm day.

Battle Bluff is part of the Dewdrop Range and Red Plateau rises above on the north side of Kamloops Lake.

The crossing is 1.7 km.   The south shoreline of Kamloops Lake also has a steep, rocky profile.  The CPR constructed tunnels, stone trestles, and reinforced ledges for the railbed.   Quarried rock was brought in by railcar in 1884 and 1885.   Engineers, masons, and laborers built a number of stone structures along the lakeshore.

The most interesting is this stone arch, hidden out of sight in a small bay.

Paddling east along the south shore of the lake, we suddenly come to shallow water.    In the spring, the river and the lake are all one, but in the late summer, there is a wide sandbar where the Thompson River empties into Kamloops Lake.

Mount Mara and Lac du Bois Provincial Park stand above the shores of the river as we paddle back to Cooney Bay and the launch spot.   The scenic loop is 11-12 km.

The scenic loop is 11-12 km.   Watch the weather and pick a day with light winds.   On most days the winds pick up about 11:30 in the morning so get an early start.

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