Rolley Lake Provincial Park is located in northwest Mission. It includes an easy walking trail around the lake and also the Rolley Falls Trail (which is actually in Mission Municipal Forest). The Rolley Falls Trail takes you to the scenic Rolley Falls waterfall and continues on a loop that descends and then comes back up. If you want a workout, do the full Rolley Lake and Rolley Falls loop. For a nice walk, you can do the Rolley Lake loop and go to Rolley Falls, turning around at that point.

Interesting Facts

• The lake is named after James and Fanny Rolley, a couple who homesteaded on its shores starting in 1888 and stayed for about ten years. James Rolley, originally from Manchester, had come to BC to work on the Canadian Pacific Railway
• Before it became a park, the lake had an industrial past: it was used as a holding pond for shingle bolts (short logs) being floated down to a mill about 5 km away at Ruskin
• Rolley Lake Provincial Park was established in 1961. It officially sits within the wet subzone of the Coastal Western Hemlock (CWHdm/CWHvm) biogeoclimatic zone, according to BC Parks’ own planning documents
• The lake is stocked with coastal cutthroat trout and rainbow trout, and no motors of any kind, including electric ones, are allowed on the water

Trail Stats

Today’s stats, for both the lake and falls loops:

• Distance: 4.8 km (return)
• Time: 2 hours (with some breaks)
• Low point: 117 m
• High point: 258 m
• Elevation gain: 141 m
• Cumulative elevation gain: 325 m

The Route

The actual GPS track from this walk, drawn on the map below. Green marks the start/end point. Use the layer control in the top right to switch to a satellite view.

Photos