Badger Lake

MU 3-27, Thompson-Nicola
51.0294° N, 120.1378° W

WaterTraced road inRoadRough surface roadRec siteShoreline from the BC Freshwater Atlas, roads from the BC Digital Road Atlas, under the Open Government Licence, British Columbia. Rec site position from BC Recreation Sites and Trails, checked 9 September 2026. The lake's depth is not drawn on this map.

Surface area: 86.3ha
Maximum depth: 14.6m; 48 ft
Elevation: 1,160m
Campsites: 26; At Badger Lake rec site

Secluded, quality-managed stillwater on the Knouff plateau holding thick, hard-fighting rainbows.

Open Badger Lake in the appThe 7-day forecast, max depth and wildfire smoke check, on the lake's own coordinate.

Trophy fish at Badger Lake

Badger Lake is known for trophy Rainbow trout to 10 lb.

Rainbow trout to 10 lb

Trophy sizes this lake is known for, not a typical catch. They are historical records from our own big fish list, with no date on file, not recent catches.

Badger Lake at a glance

Region: Thompson-Nicola
Management unit: MU 3-27
Species: Rainbow TroutThe newest of these fish records is from 2026.Species from the province's fish observation records.
Lake size: Medium Lake (50 - 500 ha)
Ice fishing: No ice fishing closure on file
Coordinates: 51.0294, -120.1378

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Gear for rainbow trout

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Fish on record at Badger Lake

Species in the Province's fish observation records
Species	First recorded	Last recorded	Records
Rainbow Trout	1932	2026	34

A year is when the Province last recorded the fish here, not a statement that it is caught today.

How to fish Badger Lake

Chironomid fishing over sunken island structure, leech patterns on intermediate lines.

Best times of year at Badger Lake

May - June
Late August - October

Badger Lake fishing regulations

We have no lake specific regulations on file for Badger Lake yet.

Getting to Badger Lake

Knouff Lake road system. Forestry recreation site with boat launch.

13.8 km of traced road to the campground by way of Knouff Lake Rd, unsigned, Badger Creek FSR and Orchard Lake Rd. The road at the end is a rough surface. It stops 60 m short of the campground.

The route traced over the BC Digital Road Atlas. A trace is a line on a map, not a report on the road: check conditions before you drive it.

Coordinates: 51.0294, -120.1378

Camping and rec sites at Badger Lake

Badger Lake
Campsites
26 designated
To the shore
42 m

Access: BR><BR>Badger Lake is located approximately 50 km north of Kamloops. The two main access routes are either via the Knouff Lake Road off of the Sun Peaks Road or Orchard Lake Road off of Highway 5 (between Vinsulla and McLure).
Coordinates: 51.038881, -120.133821
The site on Recreation Sites and Trails BC

Depth chart for Badger Lake

14.6 mdeepest

Badger Lake runs to 14.6 m (48 ft) at its deepest.

The Province sounded Badger Lake and published the depth chart surveyed in 1968.

Depth chart (PDF)

The ice year at Badger Lake, modelled

Modelled from air temperature, not an ice report. It says nothing about whether ice will hold you.

In the model Badger Lake froze in 65 of the 65 winters since 1960. Freeze-up falls most years between 25 October and 7 November, and ice-off between 4 May and 20 May. The median winter freezes on 1 November and opens on 13 May.

the middle half of modelled winters the median ice cover in the median winter

Winter 2024-25 in the model: frozen from 30 October 2024 to 1 May 2025, 183 days.

No ice fishing closure is recorded for Badger Lake, so the general regional regulations apply.

Whether a lake is open to ice fishing says nothing about whether its ice will hold you. Ice conditions vary year to year and across a single lake. Check locally before going out, every time.

Badger Lake climate, 1960 to 2025

Averaged over a year, the air above Badger Lake is 1.2 C warmer than it was in the 1960s. That is 66 years of daily readings, not a forecast.

+1.2 Csince the 1960s
7.8 Caverage year now
6.6 Caverage year then
-18 daysbelow freezing, change

Average year at Badger Lakedegrees C, yearly mean

each yearthe trend across 1960 to 2025

Days below freezingdays a year averaging under 0 C

each yearthe trend across 1960 to 2025

This week at Badger Lake

The forecast on this lake's own coordinate, refreshed through the day. The app reads these seven days for fishing and scores each one.

Day	Sky	High / low	Wind	Rain	Pressure
Tue 20 Oct	Clear sky	9° / 1°	5 km/h	dry	Steady
Wed 21 Oct	Overcast	12° / 1°	7 km/h	dry	Falling (-6.0 hPa)
Thu 22 Oct	Moderate rain showers	12° / 1°	15 km/h, gusts 26	dry	Falling (-1.3 hPa)
Fri 23 Oct	Overcast	7° / -1°	15 km/h, gusts 39	dry	Rising (+12.2 hPa)
Sat 24 Oct	Overcast	6° / -1°	6 km/h, gusts 28	dry	Steady
Sun 25 Oct	Partly cloudy	8° / 0°	5 km/h, gusts 23	dry	Rising (+4.4 hPa)
Mon 26 Oct	Mainly clear	9° / -1°	5 km/h, gusts 15	dry	Falling (-1.4 hPa)

Open Badger Lake in the app

Badger Lake, in brief

What fish are in Badger Lake?

Rainbow Trout. Species from the province's fish observation records.

Which management unit is Badger Lake in?

Badger Lake is in MU 3-27, in the Thompson-Nicola. The BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations Synopsis is organised by management unit; check it before you go.

Trout lakes near Badger Lake

Knouff (Sullivan) Lake 4 km away
Sullivan Lake 7 km away
Community Lake 12 km away
Forest Lake 15 km away
Whitewood Lake 16 km away

All 342 lakes in the Thompson-Nicola, with today's conditions on each.