Wapiti Lake–Onion Lake — Wapiti–Onion route

Map & elevation

A reusable trail line has not yet been verified for this outing. Any location pin shows the published location described above; it does not draw the hike or establish a navigable approach.

Getting there & parking

Approach on Ojay Main Road south of Tumbler Ridge and use the 2500 Road to the old well-site trailhead. The walking route starts at the southwest corner of that clearing. BC Parks gives inconsistent turn distances on Ojay Main, referring to both kilometre 25 and kilometre 29, so confirm the signed 2500 Road junction and current access before departure. Off-road motorized vehicles are prohibited inside the park.

Driving access has not been established for this selected route option; check its original sources.

Map position: 54.64999, -120.70000 · destination reference point. RSTBC Wapiti Trail REC1076 explicitly publishes these trailhead coordinates in its driving-directions field. They differ from the management point stored in LATITUDE/LONGITUDE. BC Parks describes the lake route and falls spur as using the Wapiti Lake access trail. This point is not a confirmed starting point for the selected route option.

On the trail

After the approximately 18–19 km main trail to Wapiti Lake, the Onion Lake continuation becomes much steeper. The route climbs out of the Wapiti basin toward the ridge around kilometres 24–25, then descends roughly 500 m to Onion Lake. The official guide describes roughly 1,000 m of elevation change in the first 2 km of the climb. Treat this as a separate remote backpack stage with its own water, weather and camp plan.

Conditions & seasons

Season-specific access has not been established in this guide. Read the dated notices and original land-manager information before choosing a departure date.

These are dated research notes. Open the trip planner for current available weather and advisory feeds; no alert found does not establish that a trail or road is open.

Check weather & available updates →

Camping & overnight plans

On-route camping permission has not been established for this outing. Check the relevant land manager before planning an overnight stay; a mapped lake, cabin or previous tent location does not confirm permission.

Photos of Wapiti Lake–Onion Lake — Wapiti–Onion route

A photograph with confirmed reuse permission has not yet been added to this guide.

Original photo galleries

These galleries stay on their photographers’ original websites.

• Wapiti Lake — photograph in the 2022–23 visitor guide (opens original source) · District of Tumbler Ridge