| CLEARWATER is a dispersed farming community that's invisible from
Hwy 5, and unless you need a place to stay or arrive by rail there's no
need to drop down to it at all. Everything you need apart from the odd
shop is on or just off the junction between the highway and the slip
road to the village, including the bus stop and the excellent infocentre
(daily: June-Aug 8am-8pm; Sept-May 9am-5pm; tel 674-2646), a model of
the genre that has immensely useful information on all aspects of Wells
Gray Provincial Park. If you're planning on staying locally or doing any
walking or canoeing, take time to flick through its reference books
devoted to accommodation, trails and paddling routes.
Camping aside, Clearwater is the most realistic place to stay along Hwy
5 if you're planning on doing Wells Gray. By far the best prospect,
thanks to its lovely views over Dutch Lake, is the Jasper Way Inn Motel
, 57 E Old North Thompson Hwy, two blocks off Hwy 5 (tel 674-3345;
$60-80), 1km off the highway to the west and well signed from the
infocentre; some rooms have cooking facilities. If it's full, try the
big Wells Gray Inn (tel 674-2214 or 1-800/567-4088; up to $40), close by
on the main road; the doubles here are more comfortable, but lack the
view. The latter is virtually the only place to eat locally. As the park
becomes more popular, so more places are opening on its fringes: the big
new Clearwater Adventures Resort , 373 Clearwater Valley Rd (tel
674-3909) on the corner of the Yellowhead Hwy and the Wells Grey Park
Road, is one such, a combination of cabins ($40-60), chalets ($80-100)
and camping and RV sites ($18-32; March-Oct). If you've come for
wilderness you probably won't want to be in such a place, but it does
also have three restaurants, endless facilities and a whole host of
equipment-rental possibilities and organized tours.
Three other campsites lie more or less within walking distance of the
infocentre: the best - again, on the lake - is the Dutch Lake Resort and
RV Park (tel 674-3351 or 1-888/884-4424; cabins $60-80, pitch $18; mid-April
to mid-Oct;). Don't forget, though, that there are four simple
provincial park campsites within the park . If you want to be slightly
away from Clearwater, stop at the Birch Island Campground (tel 674-3991
or 674-4054; $14-19; mid-April to Oct), a treed seventy-acre area with
tent sites and B&B units ($40-60) overlooking the Thompson River 8km
north of the village on Hwy 5. |
