Backpacking into Lillian Lake in Spray Valley Provincial Park
Our summer has been jam-packed with adventure: local hikes and bike rides with the kids when I’m solo, or road trips and front country camping when my husband is off. We decided this year we were going to play things by ear, so all of these adventures have been very last-minute depending on weather, energy levels, health and so forth. We’ve been pretty lucky to have been able to plan and pull off fun activities within a day!
Since Chris had a stint of days off at the end of August 2024, we decided to get a backpacking trip in before the summer was over. We were able to schnerp two nights at Lillian Lake in Spray Valley Provincial Park!
At a Glance:
Trailhead: Galatea Day Use Area (42 kilometres south of Highway 1 on Highway 40)
Distance: 6.0 kilometres one-way
Accessibility: Hiking
Amenities: 17 tent sites, outhouses, secure food storage, (uncovered) cooking area with picnic tables, two fire pits (firewood provided) and grey water disposal.
Reservations at: Alberta Parks
We woke up, ate a hearty breakfast, packed the backpacks into the car and hit the road, arriving to the trailhead at 11:00 a.m. It was a Tuesday, and there was still lots of parking available in the large parking lot (but this is not always the case on the weekends!). After a trip to the parking lot outhouse for our 4- and 2.5-year olds, we loaded up our packs and hit the trail.
The trail is pretty entertaining for kids since it consists of lots of bridges right off the bat. They walked for two hours along the trail, before we stopped at one of the eight bridges to eat lunch and play in Galatea Creek. At that point, Eden was in need of a nap, so I pulled out the Trail Magik carrier and placed her in it. Chris loaded Indy on his shoulders (which always blows my mind!), and with both kids in the air, we were able to cover some serious ground.
After about 20 minutes, Eden woke up and Indy was getting antsy… So they both went down again. We played lots of trail games (like hide-and-seek, tag and “I Spy”), sang songs and told stories along the way. The last kilometre and a half was a steep grind, and we made it up with lots of breaks to eat grouse berries, and surprisingly no meltdowns. Everyone along the trail was very kind and shocked to see such young children heading up, so they were giving us and them lots of encouragement!
We made it to Lillian Lake at 5:15 p.m., a whopping six hours after starting at the trailhead. The kids were in such good spirits that I found it hard to believe they’d been walking for that long! We set up our tent and tarp (as rain was in the forecast for the next day), unloaded our gear and got changed into some warmer layers as it was starting to cool off. Then, we headed towards the cooking area for dinner.
The cooking area consists of four picnic tables and two fire pits with no cover. There is a grey water station a little uphill, two food storage lockers in the forest, and access to Lillian Lake nearby for water-filtering. It’s a pretty busy cooking area, as there are 17 tent pads at the campsite… So an excellent place to meet and chat with other campers, which our 4-year-old was all about. After dinner, we tucked into our tents and were asleep by 9:30 p.m. (a late one!).
The next morning, the rain started pitter-pattering on our tent by the time we woke up at around 8:30 a.m. Chris and I could’ve probably stayed in the tent for the whole morning, but the kids were ready to step out into the rain first thing! We dressed them in their rain gear and waterproof hiking boots, and went off to have breakfast in the cooking area.
The morning was looking very gloomy, with rain pouring down at certain points in time. Thankfully, we were surrounded by the friendliest campers who took it upon themselves to teach our children how to build a fire. It took a while, but once it was going… It kept us all warm and slightly dried off our rain gear in-between downpours. Mostly though, it kept our spirits high! We spent the entire morning sharing stories with the fellow campers.
After lunch, we decided to give Galatea Lakes a go! It was still trickling, and we weren’t quite sure if the weather would get better or worse… So we packed a couple extra layers in a backpack and set off with no expectations.
Lower Galatea Lake is 1 kilometre from the campsite, and Upper Galatea Lake is 1 kilometre from there. The hike from the campsite begins in the forest, and quickly meanders into the alpine along a rocky trail littered with fossils (which was very cool for the kids!). It’s uphill the entire way, and the views are spectacular. There are also options to hike up to Guinn’s Pass, Guinn’s Peak and Ribbon Lake… but we kept it simple!
We arrived at Lower Galatea Lake, just as the rain ceased. Lucky us! We had it all to ourselves. We entertained ourselves by throwing rocks into the water, climbing boulders and snacking. Chris had big plans to go for a dip, but the weather was still damp and cold. Still, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the close company.
After spending a while up there, we hiked down and made it back to our campsite by 5 p.m. We made dinner, and our kids made new friends with three siblings who had just hiked into the campsite earlier that afternoon. We all got carried away playing an imaginary game, and walked/ran/chased each other around the entire perimeter of Lillian Lake before bedtime. It was one of our kids’ favourite memories of our time there!
The next morning, we woke up to sunshine! I took the kids to the cooking area to make breakfast and see their new friends, while Chris dismantled our tent and packed up our backpacks. He met us there 45 minutes later, and we all ate breakfast and drank coffee/hot chocolate while chatting with our friendly camp neighbours.
By 12 p.m., we had finally managed to say goodbye to everyone (that took a long time and a few tears!) and hit the trail back home. It felt way easier as the trail was all downhill, the packs were lighter, and the talk about the trip highlights kept us entertained. We stopped for lunch along the way, then I placed Eden in the Trail Magik carrier for a rest/nap.
By 3:30 p.m., we had made it most of the way down… So we decided to stop at Galatea Creek for a dip. It was so refreshing! A group from our campsite caught up to us and decided to join in on the swim, and offer the kids jellybeans. Indy was sad to see them hike away at their adult pace after, and kept trying to speed up to catch them but losing steam. It was sad, but very cute!
We made it back to the car an hour later, stoked to take our hiking shoes off.
