After our visit in the summer, we came back almost exactly 6 months later, in January. Again, we headed to Buntzen Lake first, and AGAIN IT WAS FULL. Granted, we arrived to the park gate leisurely after 12 noon, but who would have thought a lakeside park can be full in the middle of the winter?
So, we hopped on over to Sasamat Lake again, and there we still had to drive around and wait for a car to pull out. Covid-19 has rekindled many city dwellers’ love for the outdoors.
We decided to do a hike around the Sasamat Lake Loop (AllTrails link), which is an easy, 3.2km heavily trafficked loop around the lake.
We walked the loop counter clockwise starting at White Pine Beach.
Junior started out strong but petered out very quickly after about 15 minutes. We realized it’s been many months since our last hike, since we have been playing with his balance bike or skiing whenever we had time.
We saw some paddleboarders having a leisurely paddle on the lake. I immediately started calculating how fast we needed to finish the hike for me to have a chance at launching my paddleboard (I failed).
The loop is well maintained, and quite easy for a toddler. There are flights of stairs though, so definitely not stroller friendly.
There is a floating bridge for fishing (and swimming in the summer) at the southern end of the lake.
We found that there’s a small, almost secret entrance to the trail from Bedwell Bay Road (Google Maps), where there is legal street parking for about 12 cars. This entrance brings you right onto the floating bridge.
Parking here is extremely limited, but if you really want to go to Sasamat Lake and the main lots are full, you could try your luck at getting one of these dozen or so spots.
Soon after the floating bridge, we completed the loop. It’s a nice little walk, and a much welcomed small dose of nature.
- Difficulty – easy.
- View – nice views of the calm lake.
- Traffic volume – heavy even in the winter.
- Facilities – flush toilets at White Pine Beach, few benches for rest.
- Overall score – 7/10
2 responses to “Sasamat Lake Loop Hike”
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