Column: Exploring Black Point Peninsula on Mara Lake

Jim Cooperman

Contributor

Mara Lake has a number of fascinating features, including the Black Point Peninsula that juts out in the middle about halfway between the north and south ends forming a channel across from Swansea Point.

I have long been keen to explore the area and recently canoed there with two friends to hike up to the peak.

The only way to access the Crown land on the peninsula is by using a non-motorized vessel to land at Turtle Bay after the lake has gone down, unless one is willing to tie up to a rocky shoreline and scramble up steep, rocky ground.

Motorized boats must avoid the shallow water in the bay or there is a risk of getting the prop tangled with seaweed.

Wherever the shoreline is approachable is private land with docks and cabins and thus is out of bounds for the public.

After landing on the edge of the now dried-up marshland, we headed inland and hiked up the hillside for about 30 minutes through rather uninteresting second growth cedar and fir until we reached the top where thick moss covers the rocks. Here we found the only key feature, a rim trail with spectacular views of the lake, the surrounding hillsides and the valley looking south. The trail did not go far to the south, but to the north it was well established and likely goes all the way to the Black Point where there are two cabins.

Upon our return to the lake, the peacefulness of the area was gone as we were bombarded by the sounds of boaters and children playing in the water.

We spoke with local cabin owners who often have to cope with party boats that tie up in the bay and play loud music late into the night or disturb the shoreline with large waves from wake boarding and wake surfing.

It is possible that the B.C. government has plans for the 452 acres of Crown land on the peninsula, as it is divided into six parcels that range in size from one half acre to 357 acres.

The parcel on the southeast side is designated a UREP or “use reserved for the enjoyment of the public.” The marshland in Turtle Bay is an environmentally sensitive area, is home to painted turtles and is used by many species of birds, including blue herons, grebes, loons, ducks and geese.

Unfortunately, as the boat traffic and noise has increased over the years, the number of painted turtles, which has been designated a species at risk, has declined.

Read more: Column: New parks for the Shuswap?

Read more: Pictographs to be preserved

After hiking, we paddled south under the tall rock bluffs to view the ancient pictographs near the lighthouse.

These are some of the best rock paintings in this region and many of the designs are unique. After examining the paintings, one gets the impression that some of the images could be aliens with helmets on, because of the odd shapes of the figures.

According to the Splatsin, knowledge about these pictographs was lost during the residential school era, when children were separated from their parents and elders and were deprived of learning the stories about their past.

There was not enough time to paddle around the entire peninsula to Hurricane Bay, named after the windstorms that often pound the south side blowing down trees. If we had, we could have explored the old mine shaft and looked for the bubbling soda spring that was called Pilpilpoopil by the Secwepemc.

The exploration revealed this peninsula is not suitable for public access and lacks the kind of interesting features found in most parks. There is not an old growth forest to marvel at, there are no interesting geological formations.

While the view from the top is outstanding, there are many other great views to be had elsewhere. The Crown land portion of the Black Point Peninsula will hopefully remain undeveloped for many years to come.