Water rises  in one of the Cottonwood Island Park Channels – photo 250 News

Prince George, B.C. – The Spring freshet is having an impact on access to some recreational areas. 

In Prince George, the City is keeping an eye on Cottonwood Island Park where water levels have been increasing over the past few days. “We are monitoring the situation” says Superintendent of Operations, Bill Gaal. He says the water levels would need to rise about another 12 inches before the City would consider closing the park. “Certainly residents should be aware that the closure of the park is a possibility” adds Gaal. 

The Fraser River at South Fort George   is sitting at about 8 meters, so there is still 1.4 meters before that river reaches flood stage. 

In the Vanderhoof area, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural resource Operations advises that Grizzly Lake and Woodcock Lake recreation  sites, located at 23 km and 25 km on Grizzly Forest Service Road, are closed until further notice due to overly saturated access roads, making both unusable.  

In the Fort St. James area, Great Beaver Lake Recreation Site, located at 444 km on Teardrop Forest Service Road, is accessible only from the west (Fort St. James) due to a washout at 450 km. Access from Prince George is not available at this time.  

Recreational users, particularly users pulling large trailers, should be aware that turnaround space may be limited at the closure locations.