--- title: "Chilako River: recreation site around Prince George" description: "Chilako River: recreation site, 27 min from downtown Prince George. Picnics, swimming. Map, driving directions, places nearby and the official page." url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/chilako-river/ markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/chilako-river.md site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia generated: 2026-10-16T16:56:39.395Z --- # Chilako River Recreation site, 27 min from downtown Prince George. [Directions](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=53.83113,-122.97004) [Recreation Sites and Trails BC](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC33110) [Map](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/chilako-river/#map) ## About > This site offers access to the Chilako River for non-motorized day use only activities such as picnicking and swimming, and is a popular spot to beat the heat during the summer months. From Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). ## What’s there ### Activities - [Picnics](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=picnics) - [Swimming](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=swimming) As published by Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). ## Getting there From Prince George drive west on Highway 16 and turn right onto the Lower Mud River Road. Follow the road for approximately 3km and the entrance to the site is located on the left side of the road just before the bridge over the Chilako River. Driving directions from Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). Forest service roads can be rough or closed: check [DriveBC](https://www.drivebc.ca/) for highways. ## Map [Read the full list without the map](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/maps/list/?layer=rec-sites) Tap a marker for details and directions. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. ## Nearby - [Aird Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/aird-lake/) Lake 4.4 km - [Sweden Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/sweden-lake/) Lake 10 km - [Blue Cedars RV Park and Campground](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/blue-cedars-rv-park-and-campground/) RV park 10 km - [Shane Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/shane-lake/) Viewpoint 11 km - [Forests for the World Lookout](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/forests-for-the-world-lookout/) Viewpoint 11 km - [West Lake Park](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/west-lake-park/) Provincial park 13 km - [City view](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/city-view/) Viewpoint 13 km - [Boat launch](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/boat-launch-xjoflvq/) Boat launch 13 km - **Drive from downtown**: 27 min, 24 km by road - **Straight-line distance**: 17 km from downtown - **Access**: Road, 2 Wheel Drive - **Good for**: Summer - **Coordinates**: 53.83113, -122.97004 ## Links - [Recreation Sites and Trails BC page](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC33110) - [Recreation Sites and Trails BC](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/) - [Fire bans and restrictions](https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/wildfire-status/prevention/fire-bans-and-restrictions) [Wildfires and fire bans](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/wildfire/) Source: [Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue)](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC33110). Open Government Licence – British Columbia. Drive time: OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data. Source read 2 days ago [Report a problem](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/feedback/?kind=correction&page=%2Foutdoors%2Fchilako-river%2F&subject=Outdoors%3A+Chilako+River) ## More in Explore [See all in Explore](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/browse/#explore) - [Things to do Parks, trails, indoor fun](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/) - [Indoor fun Things to do on rainy and cold days](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/indoor-activities/) - [Where to stay Hotels, motels, B&Bs and campgrounds](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/visit/where-to-stay/) - [History and places The bowl, the rivers, the railway](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/explore/) - [Lheidli T’enneh Whose land this is](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/indigenous/) - [Land and resources Forests, mines, geography](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/dashboard/resources/) ## Data Machine-readable data behind this page, from the free PG Pulse API (https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/). ### Place data Source: [BC Parks Data API, Recreation Sites and Trails BC and the BC Freshwater Atlas (BC Data Catalogue), OpenStreetMap](https://catalogue.data.gov.bc.ca/dataset/bc-parks-data-api-access). Licence: Open Government Licence – British Columbia (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/policy-standards/data-policies/open-data/open-government-licence-bc) for BC Parks, Recreation Sites and Trails BC and Freshwater Atlas places; ODbL 1.0 © OpenStreetMap contributors (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) for OpenStreetMap places and drive times; each place names its own source. Updated 2026-10-14T11:40:15.055Z. JSON: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/api/v1/outdoors/chilako-river - **slug**: chilako-river - **name**: Chilako River - **category**: rec-sites - **categories**: rec-sites, swimming - **kind**: Recreation site - **lat**: 53.83113 - **lng**: -122.97004 - **kmFromCentre**: 17.3 - **driveKm**: 23.6 - **driveMinutes**: 26.8 - **offRoadMetres**: _none_ - **elevationM**: _none_ - **areaHa**: _none_ - **lengthKm**: _none_ - **activities**: picnics, swimming - **amenities**: _none_ - **seasons**: summer - **lake**: _none_ - **park**: _none_ - **closure**: _none_ - **advisories**: _none_ - **description**: This site offers access to the Chilako River for non-motorized day use only activities such as picnicking and swimming, and is a popular spot to beat the heat during the summer months. - **directions**: From Prince George drive west on Highway 16 and turn right onto the Lower Mud River Road. Follow the road for approximately 3km and the entrance to the site is located on the left side of the road just before the bridge over the Chilako River. - **page**: - **source**: Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue) - **sourceUrl**: - **licence**: Open Government Licence – British Columbia (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/data/policy-standards/data-policies/open-data/open-government-licence-bc) - **fetchedAt**: 2026-10-14T11:40:15.055Z - **onShore**: _none_ #### links | label | url | | --- | --- | | Recreation Sites and Trails BC page | https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC33110 | #### nearby | slug | name | category | categories | kind | lat | lng | distanceKm | kmFromCentre | driveKm | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | aird-lake | Aird Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 53.79162 | -122.96966 | 4.4 | 20.1 | 26.5 | | sweden-lake | Sweden Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 53.78503 | -123.10128 | 10 | 27.3 | 33.7 | | blue-cedars-rv-park-and-campground | Blue Cedars RV Park and Campground | campgrounds | campgrounds | RV park | 53.85761 | -122.82124 | 10.2 | 8.1 | 9.6 | | shane-lake | Shane Lake | summits | summits | Viewpoint | 53.89113 | -122.83617 | 11 | 6.4 | 9.7 | | forests-for-the-world-lookout | Forests for the World Lookout | summits | summits | Viewpoint | 53.89346 | -122.83899 | 11 | 6.4 | 9.8 | | west-lake-park | West Lake Park | provincial-parks | provincial-parks, swimming, boat-launches | Provincial park | 53.73642 | -122.86078 | 12.7 | 21.4 | 24.9 | | city-view | City view | summits | summits | Viewpoint | 53.89476 | -122.80868 | 12.7 | 4.6 | 6.8 | | boat-launch-xjoflvq | Boat launch | boat-launches | boat-launches | Boat launch | 53.94761 | -122.95262 | 13 | 13.7 | 20 | _Nested fields (links) are in the JSON version._ --- Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/chilako-river/. Guide for AI agents: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/llms.txt. Free API: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/