Cariboo. 
Know before you go
Advisories
Special notes
ORVs are prohibited in this park. ORVs include ATVs, off-road motorcycles, snowmobiles and side-by-sides.
Review the detailed guides under visit responsibly for more information on staying safe and preserving our natural spaces.
Visit responsibly
Follow these guides to ensure your activities are safe, respectful, and ecologically friendly:
Maps and location
Getting there
This park is located approximately 12 km north of Quesnel on Highway #97.
Camping
Frontcountry camping
There are two large campground areas known as Lakeside and Touring.
The Lakeside campground consists of 60 sites, six of which are double sites.
The Touring campground consists of 46 sites. Sites 1 - 46 are available for long-stay camping. A minimum of four consecutive weeks must be booked. Please contact the park operator for information and to book one of these sites.
Campsite reservations are accepted at the Lakeside campground and the sites at Touring function as first come, first served. There are a variety of shaded, treed, and open sites as well as extra parking at each campground. The gate to the park is locked between 11pm and 7am. Only registered campers are allowed in the campground after 11pm and quiet time is between 10pm and 7am.
Lakeside campground fee
| Vehicle-accessible camping fee | $25 per party per night |
| BC seniors’ rate (day after Labour Day to June 14 only) | $12.50 per senior party per night |
For information on the BC seniors’ rate, see the camping fees page.
Touring campground fee
| Vehicle-accessible camping fee | $20 per party per night |
| BC seniors’ rate (day after Labour Day to June 14 only) | $10 per senior party per night |
| Long-stay camping | $88 per week |
For information on the BC seniors’ rate, see the camping fees page. Information on long-stay camping is available on the Frontcountry Camping webpage.
Frontcountry campgrounds
Things to do
Ten kilometres of hiking trails are a popular way for the whole family to enjoy the park. Many of these trails double as cross-country ski trails during the winter.
A self-guiding nature trail begins in the day-use parking lot opposite the picnic shelter. View a beaver lodge and a series of beaver dams. Note the nest boxes and platforms around the pond built by Ducks Unlimited.
For your own safety and the preservation of the park, obey posted signs and keep to designated trails. Shortcutting trails destroys plant life and soil structure.
There are three long sandy beaches with two buoyed-off swim areas.
There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.
Canoeing and kayaking can be enjoyed at this park.
Visitors can fish for rainbow trout either by boat, or by casting from shore. The best time to fish in the lake is either in early spring or most evenings throughout the summer. There are ice fishing opportunities in this park.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
Pets and domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in beach areas or park buildings. You are responsible for their behaviour and must dispose of their excrement. Backcountry areas are not suitable for dogs or other pets due to the potential for problems with bears and other wildlife.
There is approximately 10 km of hiking trails with regulations for bikers. Hikers have right-of-way. Bicycles must keep to roadways and trails. Helmets are mandatory in British Columbia.
For details on e-biking within Ten Mile Lake Park, see the e-biking section below.
Please note that bicycles with electric assist motors (e-bikes) are permitted on signed or designated trails within Ten Mile Lake Park, provided they meet the definitions and criteria for e-bike use as outlined in the BC Parks cycling guidelines.
There are approximately 10 km of cross-country ski trails set in the winter. There are also snowshoeing opportunities at this park and the lake freezes over in the winter allowing for ice skating. The road into the park is ploughed to the first parking lot.
There are ice fishing opportunities in this park. Anyone fishing or angling in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence.
Facilities
Accessibility information is available for these areas of the park:
Campfires are allowed and campfire rings are provided at each campsite. We encourage visitors to conserve wood and protect the environment by minimizing the use of fire and using campstoves instead.
Firewood can be purchased in the park or you may bring your own wood. Fees for firewood are set locally and may vary from park to park.
To preserve vegetation and ground cover, please don’t gather firewood from the area around your campsite or elsewhere in the park (this is a ticketable offence under the Park Act). Dead wood is an important habitat element for many plants and animals and it adds organic matter to the soil.
Ten Mile Lake group picnic area
This park has a day-use and picnic area with fire pits, picnic tables, pit toilets, three long sandy beaches and change houses. There is also a covered shelter which has picnic tables and a wood stove. Firewood is not provided in the day-use area so people need to bring their own.
Group picnicking is open from May 15 to September 30 and reservations are available for the picnic shelter.
Pit toilets are located throughout the park. Flush toilets are located at the Lakeside campground.
An adventure playground, large grassy area and horseshoe pits are in the day-use area.
A sani-station and dump is available during the collecting season and is located near the entrance of the park.
There are hot showers at the Lakeside campground. The showers are coin operated and cost one looney ($1) for approximately four minutes.
About this park
The city of Quesnel was established as a supply centre during the Cariboo Gold Rush of the 1860s. It was originally much smaller than nearby Barkerville, which is now preserved as a Historic Town.
Ten Mile Lake Park was established as a recreational destination in 1962. The name of the park comes from the milepost on the Pacific Great Eastern Railway that stood here in the early 1900s. There is still evidence of the abandoned rail grade in the park. The tracks had to be relocated because of difficulties in crossing the Cottonwood River north of the park.
Ten Mile Lake Park is situated within the Fraser Basin, an irregular shaped depression of gently rolling hills and shallow lakes covering much of North Central B.C. The park lies in a transition area between the wetter Quesnel Highlands to the east, and the dry Chilcotin Plateau to the west, leading to a wide diversity of plant species. You can find white spruce, Douglas-fir, trembling aspen and lodgepole pine, while the forest floor is home to shrubs like red osier dogwood and saskatoon. Flowers, trees and shrubs are part of the park’s natural heritage, please don’t damage or remove them.
Walk the Beaver Pond trail and view a beaver lodge and series of beaver dams. Ducks Unlimited has placed waterfowl nesting boxes and platforms around the beaver pond.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.
Contact
| Reservations, changes, and cancellations | Our call centre is open from 7 am to 7 pm Pacific Time. There is a $5 fee for reservations, changes, or cancellations made by phone.
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| Park operator | This park is operated by Silvertip Park Services Ltd. |
| General questions and feedback for BC Parks | We answer emails weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm Pacific Time. |
