Babine Lake is British Columbia's longest fresh water lake. A recreation lake that attracts outdoor enthusiasts from around the world to the area because of the great opportunities to enjoy the wilderness while fishing, boating, canoeing, hiking and off roading. The lake extends 177 kilometres (110 miles) resting in a long valley created by the numerous local mountain ranges.

BC's longest fresh water lake is best accessed from Hwy 16 near the main communities of Burns Lake, Houston, Telkwa and Smithers, BC, Canada. Each access route leading to Babine Lake provides a different end location on the lake. There are destinations on the lake that do require the use of a vehicle ferry to cross so to access the opposite shores of the lake. Some of the popular recreation destinations on the lake include Smithers Landing, Granisle, Fort Babine, Topley Landing, Tachet and Pendleton Bay.

The lake is a popular destination in the summer for swimming, hiking, fishing, boating and bird watching. From August to November the streams and creeks connected to the lake are filled with salmon returning to spawn like sockeye, chinook, pink, coho, steelhead and chum. A whooping 90% of the Skeena River fish population pass through the Babine counting fence on the river. For example in 1994 180 million sockeye were counted. The lake is home also to some rainbow trout, whitefish and char.

The shorelines and forested areas of the lake are home to many trails like the Old Fort Mountain Trail leading to a summit of 1574 metre (5165 feet) and there is a trail leading up to a forestry lookout on Shoulder Mountain near Topley Landing. During the winter months the lake freezes over and people are out snowmobiling and cross country skiing the trails around the lake.

The lake is an attraction in itself drawing people to the area, either, to vacation in one of the lake front accommodations or tent out under the stars at any of the campgrounds. Some arrive just for the day to launch a boat or canoe from any of the many boat launches so to explore the many islands on the lake like Snowshoe Island, Bear Island and Tachet Island.

The winter seasons, the lake freezes over and the mountains get blanketed in snow creating a winter recreation destination popular with the snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross country skiing crowds. Burns Lake, Shoulder Mountain and the backcountry roads near Granisle and Smithers Landing in the Babine Lake region are popular for snowmobiling.

Babine Lake is filled with adventures and history. For example at one time there were 5 First Nation Villages lining the shores of the Babine. Then how about taking history even further back... like 40,000 years because that was how old the 12 foot Mammoth was found eighty feet below the ground near Newman Peninsula in 1971.

How to get to the Babine Lake: Babine Lake is best accessed from the communities of Smithers, Telkwa, Burns Lake, and Houston, British Columbia, Canada depending on where you want to explore along the shores of BC's longest natural fresh water lake.

From Burns Lake - Travel north on Babine Road for 45 Km.
From Smithers & Telkwa - Travel northeast on Babine Lake Road for 64 Km.
From Houston - Travel east of Houston on Hwy 16 toward Topley. Turn onto Hwy 118 and continue down this road to Babine Lake for 51 Km.