Sproat Lake, Port Alberni

Sproat Lake is located in Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is a provincial park that has become a favorite location for outdoor activities. They offer a variety of lake activities including swimming, hiking, fishing and a variety of short and long walking trails with many interesting things to see. Sproat Lake offers two separate campgrounds. One is for day use and the other consists of camping locations for those that want to stay and camp. Those seeking a more comfortable stay can rent a private beach front cottage on the lake, such as the Andersen Paul Cottage.

There are many recreational activities in Sproat Lake that patrons can take part in whether they are staying overnight or plan to leave the same day. There is hiking, picnicking, swimming, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, biking, scuba diving, surfing and waterskiing. There are several short access trails that are located in different areas of the park. The most notable is the ½ km trail that leads from the main day use parking lot to a small pier at the end of the park where the petroglyph viewing area is located. There are also many picnic areas located throughout the park with fresh water connections and campfire rings.

The warm waters of the lake make for great water recreation activities. The swimming at the lake is considered top-notch. There are two main swimming areas. One is in the day use area by the boat launch and the other is located in the lower campgrounds. Sproat Lake is also a great place for canoeing and kayaking with the convenient boat launch or the many other accessible points throughout the park.

At Sproat Lake, there are opportunities for fishing provided the person fishing has the proper license as park officials will be monitoring. There are several ideal locations on the park premises including a fishing pier.

Camping at Sproat Lake, Vancouver Island is recommended for anyone who enjoys the outdoors. There are two campgrounds available. There is the lower campground which is located right on the lake. There is also the upper campground that is connected to the lower campground by a beach access trail.

There are several things to see that may be of special interest to visitors. On the east side of Sproat Lake there is an exhibition of the finest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in British Columbia. These are writings from ancient prehistoric authors carved into the stone face. Another interesting site would be the bomber planes that can be seen skimming the surface of the lake during the forest fire season. These planes are used to drop 27 ton "water bombs" on out of control fires in the area. They are capable of scooping up the water from the lake surface and they are the largest water bombing planes in the world.