Camp at Cottonwood Recreation Site

Located 3+ hours North of Vancouver on Duffey Lake Road (Highway 99), Cottonwood Recreation Site is one of 4 sites managed by the BC Forest Service.  Duffey Lake Road is an extension of Highway 99 and connects Pemberton to Lillooet.

If you plan on hiking or backcountry camping at Joffre Lakes, you should probably extend your trip and continue North to check out all the views Duffey Lake Road has to offer and camp at Cottonwood Recreation Site.  The site is located right off of the Highway but is located next to Cayoosh Creek, which makes the little traffic that does pass almost impossible to hear.  The fact that it is located right off of the highway means that it is easy to access for any type of vehicle.  The site is also densely forested, insulating it from the highway.

Cottonwood itself has 14 first come first serve sites that run $12 per site collected by park rangers the following morning.  Each site has a picnic table and fire pit.  There are washrooms located on the site as well.  We camped here mid-November and never encountered any rangers, making our stay free.  Regardless, the peacefulness and scenic stay is well worth the $12 per party.

Tip: if you are camping during rainy season, bring your own wood - make sure it is extremely dry and chopped into thin pieces.  The wet weather and breeze coming off the creek makes it tough to start a fire if the wood is not already dry and small.