--- title: "Willow River (Tabor Mt Staging Area 5) near Prince George" description: "Willow River (Tabor Mt Staging Area 5): recreation site, 28 min from downtown Prince George. Hiking, swimming, picnics." url: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5/ markdown: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5.md site: PG Pulse (https://princegeorgepulse.ca), The pulse of Prince George, British Columbia generated: 2026-10-16T16:57:29.779Z --- # Willow River (Tabor Mt Staging Area 5) Recreation site, 28 min from downtown Prince George. [Directions](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&destination=53.87345,-122.29144) [Recreation Sites and Trails BC](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC161016) [Map](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5/#map) ## About > This site offers riverside access to the Willow River. It is a popular takeout point for river kayakers, as well as an excellent spot to enjoy a picnic or have a swim in the river. A short trail of approximately 300 metres leads from the parking area to various points along the river. From Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). ## What’s there ### Activities - [Hiking](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=hiking) - [Swimming](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=swimming) - [Picnics](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/?activity=picnics) ### Amenities - Toilets - Picnic tables - Fire rings - Wheelchair-accessible facilities As published by Recreation Sites and Trails BC (BC Data Catalogue). ## Getting there Drive east of Prince George for approximately 34 km, and turn right onto the England Creek Road (immediately before the Willow River bridge). Follow this road for 1.4km until you reach a fork in the road, and turn left at this fork. Proceed for another 400 metres and you will find the access to the site on the left side of the road. 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 - [Portage Canyon Trail](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/portage-canyon-trail/) Trail (Recreation Sites and Trails BC) 11 km - [Mount Tabor](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/mount-tabor/) Summit 12 km - [Frost Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/frost-lake/) Lake 12 km - [Tabor Ski Hill](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/tabor-ski-hill/) Ski hill 13 km - [Opatcho Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/opatcho-lake/) Recreation site 14 km - [Opatcho Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/opatcho-lake-a18hd8o/) Lake 14 km - [Francis Lake](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/francis-lake/) Recreation site 15 km - [St. Marie Lake West](https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/st-marie-lake-west/) Recreation site 15 km - **Drive from downtown**: 28 min, 35 km by road - **Beyond the road**: The drive ends about 1.1 km from this point - **Straight-line distance**: 30 km from downtown - **Good for**: Summer - **Coordinates**: 53.87345, -122.29144 ## Links - [Recreation Sites and Trails BC page](https://www.sitesandtrailsbc.ca/resource/REC161016) - [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/REC161016). 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%2Fwillow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5%2F&subject=Outdoors%3A+Willow+River+%28Tabor+Mt+Staging+Area+5%29) ## 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/willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5 - **slug**: willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5 - **name**: Willow River (Tabor Mt Staging Area 5) - **category**: rec-sites - **categories**: rec-sites, swimming - **kind**: Recreation site - **lat**: 53.87345 - **lng**: -122.29144 - **kmFromCentre**: 30.4 - **driveKm**: 35.4 - **driveMinutes**: 28.4 - **offRoadMetres**: 1065 - **elevationM**: _none_ - **areaHa**: _none_ - **lengthKm**: _none_ - **activities**: hiking, swimming, picnics - **amenities**: Toilets, Picnic tables, Fire rings, Wheelchair-accessible facilities - **seasons**: summer - **lake**: _none_ - **park**: _none_ - **closure**: _none_ - **advisories**: _none_ - **description**: This site offers riverside access to the Willow River. It is a popular takeout point for river kayakers, as well as an excellent spot to enjoy a picnic or have a swim in the river. A short trail of approximately 300 metres leads from the parking area to various points along the river. - **directions**: Drive east of Prince George for approximately 34 km, and turn right onto the England Creek Road (immediately before the Willow River bridge). Follow this road for 1.4km until you reach a fork in the road, and turn left at this fork. Proceed for another 400 metres and you will find the access to the site on the left side of the road. - **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/REC161016 | #### nearby | slug | name | category | categories | kind | lat | lng | distanceKm | kmFromCentre | driveKm | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | portage-canyon-trail | Portage Canyon Trail | rec-trails | rec-trails | Trail (Recreation Sites and Trails BC) | 53.92354 | -122.14784 | 10.9 | 39.4 | 70.4 | | mount-tabor | Mount Tabor | summits | summits | Summit | 53.91276 | -122.45318 | 11.5 | 19.4 | 26.8 | | frost-lake | Frost Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 53.77886 | -122.36631 | 11.6 | 29.5 | 42.4 | | tabor-ski-hill | Tabor Ski Hill | ski-hills | ski-hills | Ski hill | 53.94366 | -122.45606 | 13.3 | 19.4 | 22.1 | | opatcho-lake | Opatcho Lake | rec-sites | rec-sites, campgrounds, boat-launches, swimming | Recreation site | 53.74722 | -122.27875 | 14.1 | 36.2 | 51.3 | | opatcho-lake-a18hd8o | Opatcho Lake | lakes | lakes | Lake | 53.74664 | -122.28872 | 14.1 | 35.7 | 48.8 | | francis-lake | Francis Lake | rec-sites | rec-sites, campgrounds, boat-launches | Recreation site | 53.75137 | -122.36872 | 14.5 | 31.1 | 42.2 | | st-marie-lake-west | St. Marie Lake West | rec-sites | rec-sites, campgrounds, boat-launches | Recreation site | 53.7455 | -122.35446 | 14.8 | 32.2 | 43.4 | _Nested fields (links) are in the JSON version._ --- Markdown version of https://princegeorgepulse.ca/outdoors/willow-river-tabor-mt-staging-area-5/. Guide for AI agents: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/llms.txt. Free API: https://princegeorgepulse.ca/developers/