Stories & Features

Former BC Lions player and long-time CFL coach sings praises of BC Hydro reservoir

The man on the stand-up paddleboard – known as a SUP by those in the sport – looks decidedly fit and familiar. And when he tells me his name, I'm taken aback. "Not the Jacques Chapdelaine?" I ask, with a gasp.

Modest to a fault, Chapdelaine responds with, "There are a lot of us."

Perhaps. But there's only one Chapdelaine who played as a receiver for the BC Lions and four other CFL teams (if you count the Montreal Concorde and Montreal Alouettes as two teams) before going on to coach a variety of CFL and university football teams for almost two decades.

Retired now, Chapdelaine is a three-times-a-week paddler, often alongside his wife and friends, at Hayward Lake reservoir near Mission. He crafts his own wooden paddles as a hobby, and plays on the reservoir almost year-round.

"At this time of year, there's almost no one on the lake – I almost wish people would use it more often outside the summer," says Chapdelaine, chatting on a warm day in mid-March. "The nice thing about this lake is it hardly ever freezes over. And it's calm about 75% of the time, because it's a reservoir in a valley. The tricky part with these vessels is that when you get sidewinds, you can get a little destabilized. But here, that's almost non-existent."

Hayward busy in summer, and Buntzen Lake requires reservations

Hayward Lake can get crazy busy as the weather warms, and is among the most popular of our recreation areas, which provide outdoor fun. Plan to arrive early to obtain a parking spot and avoid gate closures, or choose an alternative place to visit for recreational spaces in Mission or Maple Ridge.

Buntzen Lake, near Port Moody is wildly popular with swimmers, paddlers, and hikers. It got so busy that we now use a parking reservation system May through September that helps reduce traffic in the local neighbourhood. The parking reservations system releases parking passes at 7 a.m. each day for reservations for the following day. Reservations aren't required for those entering on foot, or arriving via public transit.

If you enjoy camping, we have six sites that offer day use spaces and camping alongside reservoirs and rivers in our system. Free camping, on a first-come, first-served basis, is available at Jones Lake east of Chilliwack, at Upper Campbell River near Courtenay, Gun Creek and Seton Lake northeast of Pemberton, Alexander Mackenzie's Landing in northern B.C. near Mackenzie, and at Pend d'Oreille.

Lastly, consider checking out our Visitor Centres. Our Powerhouse at Stave Falls is a Visitor Centre located a short walk or drive from Hayward Lake. It's frequented by school groups and anyone interested in B.C. history, and is open through October 14. Visitor centres at W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Revelstoke Dam are open through September 2.

Reservoir popular for paddling, swimming, hiking, biking and fishing

To those in the know, Hayward Lake is a gem. Located about a 20-minute drive east of Maple Ridge in the Fraser Valley, the lake is part of our Stave River hydroelectric project, which runs from Stave Lake, through Stave Dam into Hayward Lake, then through Ruskin Dam and Powerhouse before spilling into the Fraser River three kilometres south.

There's a whole lot to do at Hayward, which features a prominent sandy beach popular with swimmers, plus access to fishing, hiking, and, for cyclists, a 6-kilometre Railway Trail. And five minutes from the beach is the Stave Falls Visitor Centre, an extraordinary museum housed in a more than 100-year-old powerhouse that's popular with school groups and history buffs of all ages.

Earlier in the day, I spotted several paddlers who had worked their way up the scenic, narrow passage that leads to a boom near the Stave Falls dam. Along the way, they passed the tiny historic tugboat, the M.V. Shirley that once patrolled the reservoir to remove logs and debris. When Chapdelaine travels up to the powerhouse and then back to the other end of the lake, he says he can get 10 km of paddling in.

"There are a ton of eagles up here during January and February," he says. "I usually see, like, hundreds, and it's a wonderful time to come. I remember once when, out of nowhere, an eagle flew right by me – I hadn't seen it, because it had been on a stump. It was just unbelievable."

Related:

• BC Hydro recreation areas and visitor centres
• Stave Falls Visitor Centre
• W.A.C. Bennett Dam Visitor Centre
• Revelstoke Dam Visitor Centre