Cartwright Lake

MU 4-34, Kootenays
50.8122° N, 116.4264° 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: 42.4ha
Maximum depth: 12.2m; 40 ft
Elevation: 1,151m
Campsites: 18; At Cartwright Lake rec site

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

Trophy fish at Cartwright Lake

Cartwright 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.

Cartwright Lake at a glance

Region: Kootenays
Management unit: MU 4-34
Species: Rainbow TroutThe newest of these fish records is from 2026.Species from the province's fish observation records.
Lake size: Small Water (< 50 ha)
Ice fishing: Open to ice fishing, confirmed
Coordinates: 50.8122, -116.4264

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Gear for rainbow trout

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Fish on record at Cartwright Lake

Species in the Province's fish observation records
Species	First recorded	Last recorded	Records
Rainbow Trout	1940	2026	132

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

How to fish Cartwright Lake

Best times of year at Cartwright Lake

May - June
September - October

Cartwright Lake fishing regulations

Engine power restriction - 7.5 kW (10 hp). Source: Province of British Columbia

Getting to Cartwright Lake

21.7 km of traced road to the campground by way of Leadqueen FSR, Bugaboo Creek FSR and Brisco Rd. The road at the end is a loose surface.

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: 50.8122, -116.4264

Camping and rec sites at Cartwright Lake

Cartwright Lake
Campsites
18 designated
To the shore
18 m

Access: Car accessible, about 24 kilometres west of Brisco (Highway 95). Drive west on Bugaboo Forest Service Road and turn south at km 1.5 onto Leadqueen Forest Service Road for 6 kilometres. Alternate Route: 55 kilometres north of Invermere via Westside and Leadqueen road. Turn west at km 41.5 junction. Use caution due to logging truck traffic. Note: Separate roads access the north and west campsites. Boat engine power restriction of 7 kW.
Coordinates: 50.813161, -116.431504
The site on Recreation Sites and Trails BC

Depth chart for Cartwright Lake

12.2 mdeepest

Cartwright Lake runs to 12.2 m (40 ft) at its deepest.

The Province sounded Cartwright Lake and published the depth chart surveyed in 1971.

Depth chart (PDF)

The ice year at Cartwright Lake, modelled

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

In the model Cartwright Lake froze in 65 of the 65 winters since 1960. Freeze-up falls most years between 29 October and 9 November, and ice-off between 23 April and 10 May. The median winter freezes on 5 November and opens on 3 May.

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

Winter 2024-25 in the model: frozen from 15 November 2024 to 24 April 2025, 160 days.

Cartwright Lake is open to ice fishing under the regulations on file.

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.

Cartwright Lake climate, 1960 to 2025

Averaged over a year, the air above Cartwright Lake is 0.8 C warmer than it was in the 1960s. That is 66 years of daily readings, not a forecast.

+0.8 Csince the 1960s
-4.3 Caverage year now
-5.1 Caverage year then
-7 daysbelow freezing, change

Average year at Cartwright 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 Cartwright 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	Partly cloudy	11° / -2°	10 km/h, gusts 16	dry	Steady
Wed 21 Oct	Overcast	17° / 2°	13 km/h, gusts 20	dry	Falling (-5.1 hPa)
Thu 22 Oct	Overcast	13° / 3°	11 km/h	dry	Falling (-4.4 hPa)
Fri 23 Oct	Light drizzle	10° / 2°	15 km/h	dry	Rising (+5.5 hPa)
Sat 24 Oct	Moderate drizzle	6° / -1°	12 km/h	1 mm	Rising (+11.6 hPa)
Sun 25 Oct	Moderate snow	4° / -5°	7 km/h	4 mm	Rising (+5.9 hPa)
Mon 26 Oct	Partly cloudy	5° / -7°	6 km/h	dry	Steady

Open Cartwright Lake in the app

Cartwright Lake, in brief

What fish are in Cartwright Lake?

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

Which management unit is Cartwright Lake in?

Cartwright Lake is in MU 4-34, in the Kootenays. The BC Freshwater Fishing Regulations Synopsis is organised by management unit; check it before you go.

Trout lakes near Cartwright Lake

Topaz Lake 3 km away
Jade Lake 3 km away
Cleland Lake 3 km away
Cub Lake 4 km away
Big Fish (Dunbar) Lake 4 km away

All 162 lakes in the Kootenays, with today's conditions on each.