"Hidden Jewels of the Cariboo" a Pavilion Travel Page by Darby2

The tiny hamlet of Pavilion lies in the most scenic setting imaginable...a crystal clear lake of transparent turquoise and colourful Marble Canyon whose walls rise nearly 3000 feet above it. It's somewhat desert-like around here with a few Ponderosa pines, junipers and sagebrush scattered along the hillsides. The whole area is described as a karst landscape.
Just south of Pavilion Lake are two smaller lakes or ponds, Turquoise Lake and Crown Lake. (visible in the lower part of the photo) There's a small campground at Crown Lake and it has a good stock of large rainbow trout as well.

Many log cabins and summer cottages line the shoreline here.

It's an easy drive through here. Just follow Highway 99 from the turnoff north of Cache Creek, and proceed west towards Lillooet and Whistler.

The lake has an excellent population of rather large rainbow trout. In addition, the lake has some unique geological features including ancient coral reef fossils. Read about it here

I'll be adding more pictures shortly. In the meanwhile, have a look at these historic pictures of the area

Aerial photos courtesy of Kat

To view the images of this area in full screen size, just click here:Hi-Res Images

**Please note that Pavilion lake is a protected ecosystem and permission is required to take samples or dive on the site.

Nestled in a canyon between Lillooet and Cache Creek is Pavillion Lake, which contains mysterious underwater formations of coral-like structures, some of which are up to four metres high, up to 11,000 years old, and covered in mats of microscopic, sunlight-loving microbes. Teams of scientists from NASA, Simon Fraser University and Portland State University believe that the massive structures have been created by microbes and are not found anywhere else in the world. The Underwater Council of BC has applied to the province for their protection

This spectacular pillar of rock rises several hundred feet out of the side of Marble Canyon.

I took this photo using the full 12x zoom of my new digital camera. Note the trees growing on the top of the rock formation...how they survive on the bare rock and how they got there is a mystery.

I have mapped the position in Google Earth® from where I took this photo.