Bowron Lakes Circuit

Basic Logistics - Bowron Lakes Circuit
Gear - Bowron Lakes Circuit
Navigation and Maps - Bowron Lakes Circuit
Leadership - Bowron Lakes Circuit
Weather - Bowron Lakes Circuit
International Travel - Bowron Lakes Circuit
Flora and Fauna - Lakes Circuit
Previous Adventures - Bowron Lakes Circuit 

Disclaimer

There are significant dangers associated with both Open Water and Moving Water canoe outings.  Units undertaking a Scouting Adventure on either a large body of water or moving water need more than just the basic skills and knowledge required by the BSA to conduct such a trip safely.

Our Troop has several adults with extensive experience and professional training in watercraft use, sailing and whitewater.  If you are planning a Canoe trip and do not have an experienced adult leader able to assess flow rates, wind and "read water", you should reconsider a water outing until you have the proper resources and people to make your trip safe. 

We are happy to talk to you if you have questions. 

Bears

Both Black Bears and Grizzlies have been seen on the Bowron Lake Circuit.  They own the entire Circuit, to include the road leading into it.

Because of bear activity, all food must be locked up in the lockers found at every campsite and at many of the portage points.  Cooking in or near your tent is asking for trouble.

Do NOT Eat in your tent!!! 

ALL Smellables MUST be Locked Up!

Keep all foods and smellables in a bag so that it is easy to lock up in the lockers.  Some of the lockers have shelves so won't accommodate hard boxes or large portage backpacks.  

Large cooler don't make sense on the Bowron.  They are too bulky to carry around on portages and often won't fit in bear lockers.

What Attracts Bears

• FOOD!

  • Meals in your food bag

  • Snacks in your Snack Bag

  • Food Trash in your trash bags 

• Toiletries

  • Toothpaste

  • Scented soaps

  • Deodorant

  • Lotions

• Outdoor Chemicals

  • Insect repellent

  • Sunscreens

  • Liquid fuels

• Human Urine

  • Some thought it might scare them away

    • Nope - it attracts them

What Bears Don't Like

• Noise

  • Bears tend to stay away from the group if it hears them

  • Some don't seem to care

  • You don't need to make excessive noise and your Scouts are probably already set

  • NOTE: bears can be attracted to noise, but at least you didn't startle them

• Bear Spray

  • Bear spray is probably your best bet against a bear encounter

  • Adult Leads should have this at the ready

    • Use bungy to attach it to your canoe for quick access when portaging

    • Wear in camp or have at the ready in your tent

  • You can borrow a can from Bear River Mercantile and return it at the end of your trip

    • No guarantee it will work

    • This should NOT be your primary plan!

    • Better than nothing...maybe

• NOT looking like Prey

  • Stand your ground

    • This doesn't always work

  • Don NOT Run

    • Bears have an instinctive reflex to chase fleeing animals, and they run faster than humans

• Hatchet

  • Doesn't seem like great tool for fight a bear

  • Was used to fight off a black bear in Bowron in the past by girlfriend saving her boyfriend who was being mauled

    • She had to repeatedly hack at it as it continued to attack

  • Use as last resort defense if all else fails

• Bear Horn?

  • The loud noise MAY scare away a bear

  • Other bears may be attracted to it

  • It can cause bears to aggressively charge

• Items that are Prohibited in Bowron

  • Bear Bangers 

    • Unpredictable Animal Reactions

      • Conservation officers and park authorities note that loud explosive deterrents can panic bears, sometimes frightening them directly toward the user instead of chasing them away

    • Fire Hazard

      • The explosive spark and dry-powder charges create a real risk of starting wildfires during dry summer paddling and camping seasons

    • Noise Disruption

      • The loud blasts disrupt the wilderness experience and peace of the protected park environment

  • Firearms

    • They don't want stupid people, or smart ones for that matter, injuring other paddlers

Other Wildlife

Bowron is known for its bears and moose.  They will see you, but you may not see them.

In 2026, we saw

• Bears

  • Bear on side of road on dirt road to Bowron

  • Lots of bear scat on initial portage trails

  • Lots of bear markings on trees in different places

  • Bear tracks at Site 21 and on sand bars on Cariboo River

  • Book answer

    • Black Bears are common in lower altitudes and near lakes

    • Grizzly Bears are more frequent in alpine areas

• Moose

  • Moose tracks on sand bars on Cariboo River

  • In marsh area on Bowron River - only seen by first canoer

    • You need to be quiet and patient to see moose - not a great Scout talent

• Mink

  • Site 50 had one that was following Scouts and dancing around camp

• Beavers

  • Several lodges seen

  • Saw one swimming by our camp (maybe Site 14?)

• Racoons

  • Common Raccoon tracks on beaches around Site 42

• Squirrels and Chipmunks - all over the place

  • American Red Squirrel 

• Birds

  • Bald Eagles - all over

  • Ospreys stealing fish from the lakes

  • Lunes - making noise all night!

    • Common Loon

  • Canada jays 

  • Ducks

    • Mergansers and other waterfowl 

  • Canada Geese - many

  • Ravens

  • Blue Herron

  • Lots of smaller birds

• Frogs and Toads

  • Western Toad 

    • Giant one on the trail in the early AM on Site 29

    • tiny guy walking around Site 42

  • Columbia Spotted Frog

• Fish

  • No idea what we saw or caught, but these are known to be in the lakes:

    • Northern Pikeminnow

    • Bull Trout 

    • Rainbow trout

    • Dolly Varden

    • Kokanee salmon

    • Rocky Mountain whitefish 

    • Sockeye salmon migrate and spawn in the upper Bowron River around late summer and early autumn

In 2026, we Didn't see

• River otters

• Porcupines 

• Martens (unless the Mink was saw was one)

• Wolves

• Cougars

• Wolverines

• Lynx

• Foxes

Edible and Poisonous Plants

The Circuit was filled with plants of interest.

You can check out inaturalist.org to see what others logged.

Disclaimer

It is easy to misidentify plants, even when using an app.  Apps, like many people, make mistakes ALL the Time.  

Just because a plant is thought to be edible, doesn't mean that someone in your group won't have some sort of strange or allergic reaction.  Poisoning and allergic reactions will result in an evac, end to your trip, and possibly a fatality.

It is best to have your group NOT eat any wild plants.  

The following information may NOT be totally accurate.

Edibles (seen on 2026 High Adventure)

• Oval-leaf Blueberry

• Thinleaf Huckleberry

  • Found a few at Site 42 and 50

  • Not that common on Bowron

• Velvetleaf Blueberry 

  • Site 42 is filled with them

    • If you go on Cariboo Falls hike near Site 42, you can fill up on berries as you grab them by the handful 

  • Also on Site 50

• Canadian Bunchberries 

  • all over

• Squashberries, aka Mooseberries

  • all over

• Lingonberries 

  • Site 42

  • Great if you like sour

• Five-leaf dwarf bramble

• Wild Red Raspberry

  • Found at the beginning of one portage of the trails after Site 42 

  • So yummy...but don't promote eating berries!

• Thimbleberry

  • Most were not ripe yet

• Saskatoon 

  • Found in a few campsites

• Solomon’s plume

  • All over, but only a few berries were ripe

  • Mild laxative effect

  • Unripe berries have a STRONG laxative effect

  • Can be confused with Baneberry 

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

• Rose Twisted Stalk

  • Laxative if you eat too many

  • Can be confused with Baneberry 

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

• Swamp currant

  • Nasty if raw

• Bearberries 

  • So many at Site 42

  • Not good to eat

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

• Creeping Snowberry 

  • Wintergreen flavor

  • Can be easily confused with common or trailing snowberries which are toxic

  • Generally best to avoid white berries altogether 

• Prickly Wild Rose

  • Hip

  • Found at many sites and on the trails

Poisonous (seen on 2026 High Adventure)

• Common Cowparsnip 

  • Along many trails

  • Found in some camps

  • Don't Touch! 

• False Hellebore (Veratrum viride)

  • Seen on portage between Indeanpoint and Isaac Lake

    • Known to be elsewhere on the Circuit

  • Frequently found in the moist alpine meadows and damp, open forest floors along portage routes

  • It grows tall with very distinct, large, heavily ribbed, bright green leaves

  • Entire plant contains highly toxic alkaloids

  • Ingestion causes a severe drop in blood pressure, cardiac dysfunction, and intense nausea

• Kneeling Angelica 

  • Found in some of wet areas past the Cariboo

  • Don't Touch! 

• Devil's club

  • All over the place

  • Parts of plant are edible - but not worth the trouble

  • Berries are toxic to humans and eaten by bears

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

  • NOTE: covered in an obnoxious amount of spine that will break off in your skin - Best avoided

• Twinberry Honeysuckle 

  • Mildly toxic

  • Can be easily confused with some of the blueberries and huckleberries

• Red Elderberry

  • All over the place

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

• Red Osier Dogwood

  • Not really "toxic", but you won't be happy eating these

    • Causes vomiting 

  • They look poisonous - why eat something that looks poisonous

  • Generally best to avoid white berries altogether 

• Canadian Buffalo-Berry (Shepherdia canadensis)

  • Found on trail to Cariboo Falls from Unna Lake

  • "Edible" red berries will make you sick if you eat too many due to saponin 

  • Generally best to avoid red berries altogether 

• Baneberry (Actaea rubra)

  • We did NOT identify this in 2026, but it is found in moist woods along the circuit

    • We believe was saw this along the trail, but didn't get a close look at it to confirm

    • Has been seen on portage between Babcock Creek and Babcock Lake

  • Plant produces striking red or white berries

  • Can be confused with Solomon’s plume or Rose twisted stalk or anything red or white

  • This is a VERY poisonous plant containing potent cardiogenic toxins

Poisonous Plants to be Aware of

• These were NOT seen at Bowron, at least by us, but are thought to grow there

• Western Water Hemlock (Cicuta douglasii)

  • This is the most violently toxic plant in North America

  • Grows directly along the muddy banks, marshes, and slow-moving streams of the circuit

  • Features clusters of small white flowers and double-compound leaves

  • Thick rootstock contains cicutoxin, a lethal neurotoxin

  • Ingesting even a tiny fraction of the root causes rapid, fatal systemic paralysis and violent seizures

• Death Camas (Toxicoscorion venenosum)

  • Though more common in meadows, it can appear in open, grassy subalpine clearings near the park

  • It grows from a bulb that looks deceptively like an edible wild onion but lacks the onion scent

  • All parts contain zygacine alkaloids, which cause severe gastrointestinal distress, slow heart rate, and can be fatal