Today’s destination is Eva and Miller Lakes out in Mount Revelstoke National Park British Columbia. It’s a wonderful head-in-the-clouds kind of hike (at 1800-1900m elevation), with amazing scenery and an amazing goal. Two goals – a pair of small mountain lakes, each a beautiful blue/green and in close proximity to each other. The trail begins up high in the alpine zone and keeps there the whole time.
While there’s a fair bit of cumulative elevation, it’s in short spurts and the hike is pretty easy going really. “Gently rolling”, as the park brochure describes it. To access the trail requires a park pass and if you don’t have one, they’re available at the start of the Meadows in the Sky Parkway (the road up), or in town. That’s nearby Revelstoke, by the way.
Mt Revelstoke (BC) Eva & Miller Lakes: an delightful hike up in the high country. Outdoor fun with Chris and Connie.
This trek begins at the parking lots at the end of the parkway, near the top of Mount Revelstoke. That road is winding and sometimes steep. Switchback after switchback and up and up you go – it seems to keep climbing forever.
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There’s a myriad of trails at the stating point leading every which way. We’d love to do others had we more time in the area – it’s just such a gorgeous place. The one to Eva and Miller Lakes begins at the south end of the upper parking lot and is clearly marked.
Sometimes there’s a shuttle you can take, via non-public road, to go a little higher, which takes a couple km off the round trip and some elevation. But why? The scenery and the whole experience is just too awesome to shorten. If you can do it all, please do it all and you’ll thank yourself.
For variety we hiked down the paved road the shuttle uses on the final leg. There’s no traffic other than park’s staff or the people mover when it’s running, and it wasn’t this day.
The trail heads up at a decent grade and initially is wide and well engineered. Later on things get a little more wild, but this section sees more touristy types and is built accordingly. It’s mostly in the trees. At the upper area there’s more trails heading off in all directions of the compass. To viewpoints and little lakes, and each is a spectacular destination in itself. The very summit of Mount Revelstoke is not far away.
Just past Heather Lake, the Eva and Miller Lakes trail continues. Plunge into the wilderness and enjoy the ride. The trail travels though woods and meadows, following the lay of the land in well thought out manner. Later on it traverses a number of talus slopes. Where the trees open up enjoy the view. The mountains around here are big and spectacular.
The woods are described as a temperate rainforest, with some cedar and hemlock in the mix. Those trees are often associated with coastal regions, but sometimes grow in the interior of BC, in cooler and wetter climes. Like up here.
There’s meadows and streams, views aplenty, and if this does not move you, you must be dead. This high county is a bear hang out. We saw signs like paw prints and tree scatchings, but they probably avoid the trail during the day. It’s not wall to wall people, but there’s enough traffic to scare them off (usually).
At select points along the way, at meadows, there’s marked emergency assembly points with a phone number if you need help. We found cell service to be spotty, so connecting with the rescue team might be hit or miss based on this. Problems probably don’t happen often, but that these are in place suggests it’s needed. It is a wild trail and has the potential to be unforgiving.
We suspect most people who go this far are tuned-in and seasoned (it is listed as moderate, but long in the park guide) and approach the trail with the proper mindset. Travel in groups for safety and fun. Bring first aid along and lots of water. That kind of stuff.
In places the flowers were in full bloom. Fireweed and Paintbrush seemed most common and at times they crowded the trail. Little rivulets come off the mountain, to eventually make their way down to Lake Revelstoke. Then on to the Pacific Ocean. The lake can be seen occasionally where the trees thin. The long lake is man-made and part of the Columbia River system.
Pika and Hoary Marmot are common in and around talus slopes. You’ll likely hear them before they’re seen and each gives a shrill alert when startled.
The trail rises and falls, traverses open slopes and overall is a delight. It’s an old trail and we’ve seen photos of it going back a century or more. One can’t help wonder how many folks have passed this way over the years, but at best we can guess.
Where the trail steepens marks the final push up to the lakes. Part way up there’s a split and neither Eva or Miller is far away at this point. So 800m to Eva Lake and 400m to Miller Lake. Pick one and go there and then do the other in what ever order suits you. We did Eva first and only I (Chris) did Miller later. Connie elected to rest for the trip back and waited at the junction.
Continue climbing up to Eva Lake. Along the way, pass another marked junction and that one takes you to Jade Lakes some four kilometres away. It looks like there’s some serious elevation that way and it’s marked expert in the guide (“with long steep sections”). Based on photos, those lakes are also stunning and scenic.
All the trails on Mount Revelstoke shout “hike me!” and we’d love to answer the call, but can only do so much in one day. We’d sure like to return to the area and maybe some day we might know Jade Lakes (so called for their deep green colour).
Pass a little pond, continue climbing and before long arrive at Eva Lake. A sign announces your arrival and then comes the realization that all this work was well-worth it. Eva is spectacular and is rimmed on several sides by rocky crests. At the far end, the lake feeds a little stream and mere metres later, it tumbles over the edge of a rock wall and is gone.
There’s a bit of history with this hike too and take a look at the old rangers cabin on the west shore. It’s almost a century old (built 1928) and is covered inside and out with the signatures of visitors over the years. We found some going back to the 1940s, but we know there’s even older ones, and others are more recent. It seems people are from all over the world have visited here.
Observation: people in the old days had more a elegant writing style than today.
The log cabin served as a patrol base for wardens in the old days, but was kept even after it was no longer needed. It’s historically recognized and was fixed up about ten years back, so it should be around for a long time. It looks so nice from across the lake (there’s a trail circling Eva) and it must have been an amazing place to spend the night. You can camp at Eva Lake, by the way, but not in the cabin.
This place makes a great lunch spot, but eat slow and enjoy the view. The setting is just too spectacular and never has a meal in the woods tasted so good.
Beautiful British Columbia magazine did a piece on the Eva and Miller Lakes trails in the 1970s. The holder of this old collection now, the Royal BC Museum, allowed us use of any we wished for our Then & Now comparisons. We picked a few wide landscape shots we though would work, including a couple shot at Eva Lake.
We’ve yet to get to these, but will soon and hope they work out. We never know if they’re lined up right until we’re ready to put them together on the computer, and sometimes that’s usually some time after they were shot. Stay tuned (said with fingers crossed).
A ranger we passed at the upper parking lot at the start of the hike told us Eva Lake was still icebound a couple weeks before our visit (on July 4th – happy birthday America). Winter hangs around a long time in these high places and we noticed some scattered snow patches in sheltered areas on this hike. The snow pack they get on this mountain is insane and it can last well into summer.
Eventually you have to (reluctantly) head back. Unless you’re spending the night and we bet that would be amazing. Mornings must be wonderous on Mount Revelstoke. I bet you feel alive again.
At the one junction, continue on to Miller Lake. The trail drops down a bit and in no time, there it is. It’s a bit bigger than Eva Lake, and is located in a rocky bowl. It’s different, but no less gorgeous. Look all around and take it in. The water, like at Eva Lake, is ice cold, a deep bluish-green and clear as glass.
A look at the watch tells us time is running out, so the stay here was more brief. We’re slow hikers – mainly because we stop and admire the scenery so much – and beside, Connie was waiting for my return. A quick climb up to the junction and together once again, we’re homeward bound. Recall that rollercoaster profile mentioned before? You really notice it on the way back – “what, another up?” But at least the steepest sections are short.
We started this hike right after the park opened for the day, and the parking area was pretty quiet then. On our return, all were jammed full and the immediate area a tad chaotic. Most of these folks don’t go too far from their vehicle, so you only need contend with this at the very start and the very end. The rest of the time, even with lots of folks spread out on the trail, we knew solitude and peace.
Now comes the car trip down the mountain and there’s no real break in the grade until you reach bottom. If anything it reminds one just how high up you are on lakes trail. Almost 2km! There’s some nice pullouts with viewpoints on the road down and these are worth a stop. Look out over the town of Revelstoke and the mighty Columbia River way down there.
The Eva and Miller Lakes trail on Mount Revelstoke gets big points from us, but we have a couple complaints. 1: it took us far too long to get come here, and 2: ever since we’re sad and dying to return. It had a hold on us.
We had some rather harsh light this day and some haze, but you take what you can get when so far from home. The place looks good no matter.
“These two are amazing!! I love following their adventures and the photography is…jaw dropping. Enjoy your working vacation, Chris & Connie!!…” Dayna Kent. (this job really is like a vacation).
If you wish more information about this adventure or if you love to chat don’t hesitate to contact us!
Date of adventure: July, 2023. Location: Revelstoke, BC. Distance: 16km round trip. Height gain cumulative: 500m-ish. NOTE: all distances and heights are approximate and may differ slightly from other trip reports (including our own). Technical stuff and notes: lots of bear signs. Reference: Parks Canada and the Royal BC Museum.
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