When the winds are calm, Kamloops Lake is one of the best paddling spots in the Interior of B.C.   The rugged hills on both side of the lake provide a scenic backdrop for paddling along the shoreline.   On this last outing on the lake in mid-September, I chose to Launch from Tobiano, at Bruker Marina.   There is a $10 fee to park there and launch from the  boat ramp/beach area.   The marina is protected by a log breakwater providing flat water for a start to paddling.   On this day, I paddled east along the south shore toward Cherry Bluffs.

The hills near Tobiano are mostly silt bluffs with wide gravelly beaches.

Large glacial erratics stand on the beaches left by past ice ages.

The gentle rounded hills of the Tobiano area give way to a more rocky shoreline as I paddled east.

The area near Cherry Creek has a gravelly alluvial fan from hundreds of thousands of years of spring floods.

Just past the outlet for Cherry Creek, the rocky hills of Cherry Bluffs loom overhead, a good point to turn around.   After paddling I drove down the Cherry Creek Station Road, a narrow, steep gravel road that winds down to the CPR at Cherry Creek.   There is access to be beach from the parking area there, but it means crossing the rail tracks.   Cherry Creek had flooded this spring and had eroded away banks along its course.   The lower end is already shaped to these floods and is rich in deciduous trees and shrubs, now turning colour with the approach of fall.   This will be a wildlife corridor throughout the year.

Across the lake 2 km away on the north shore is the small lakeshore community of Frederick.

The paddle down from Tobiano to Cherry Bluffs and back is 10.6 km.    It is best to pick a day without strong winds which tend to blow down the bottom of the river valley from east to west.

More information:

• Tobiano to Six Mile Point on Kamloops Lake
• Cooney Bay to Tobiano
• Tobiano to Painted Bluffs
• Bruker Marina