Rossiter Lake Ramble

I’ve been meaning to hike down to Rossiter and Divers Lake for some time but they’re a bit off the beaten track and access is essentially in and back. Both of these gorgeous lakes were added to Strathcona Provincial Park back in 2003.

Rossiter Lake
Rossiter Lake

Access to Rossiter Lake (the first lake in the chain) is via logging roads. I thought about driving down to the lake level, but quickly realized that the road had a few dips that were too much for my little two wheel drive. Overall the road is in pretty good shape and should be no problem for a four wheel drive truck.

Rather than risk tearing the bottom out of my car, I ended up leaving it on the road beyond the Raven Lodge and then followed the logging road down hill. The walking was easy (the longer I walked, the more time I spent estimating how long it would take to return to my vehicle).

The road eventually levels out and then curves sharply to the right. At this point there is a junction and another road heads to the left, immediately crosses an old log bridge and then becomes overgrown with red alder. It looks somewhat passable, but this might be a good place to leave your vehicle. About 20 minutes walk on this road takes you to a trail that leads down to Rossiter lake and a magnificent view of Mount Allan Brooks and Mount Albert Edward beyond.

I enjoyed the sunset at Rossiter and then started retracing my route back to my vehicle. The uphill climb was long, but not overly strenuous. Because the road was so open there was still plenty of light even though the sun had set. Even so, starting this hike in the morning and then spending the day continuing on to Divers Lake would be a good way to go. I’m definitely going to try it again once spring arrives more fully and explore through to Divers Lake.

Getting There:

Follow signage directing you to Mount Washington ski resort. Turn off on Nordic Road to the cross-country ski area and the Paradise Meadows trailhead. Drive past the Raven Lodge and straight onto a gravel logging road. Look for your first drivable gravel road going down hill to the right (if you see the biathlon area you’ve gone too far). Park here if you don’t have good clearance in your vehicle, consider driving down to the bottom of the hill if you’ve got a truck as it’ll save you the walk back up the hill. Note that there are a couple of dips on the way down and few places to turn around.

Raven Lodge and Paradise Meadows trailhead.

Place to park where the logging road descends downhill.

Junction and overgrown road to Rossiter Lake.

Short trail emerges at lake edge here.

Comox-Strathcona C, BC V0R, Canada

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