Ride: Kamloops to Pritchard via Paul Lake Road and Pinantan-Pritchard Road
Narrow back road climbing from valley bottom near Kamloops (Hwy 5) to Paul Lake Provincial Park then to Pritchard (Hwy 1). The road turns to smooth gravel about 10 km past Paul Lake.
Last Ridden: 2014Province: BC
Region: Thompson Okanagan
Route Type: paved backroad, gravel backroad
Riding Surface: pavement (70%), packed gravel (30%)
Most Suitable For: Adventure Bike
Also Suitable For: most street legal motorcycles
The road starts off with decent pavement. The surface gets rougher as you go. There are some twisty sections. It's about 18 km to the entrance of Paul Lake Provincial Park and another 1.5 km to the day use area parking lot. There are washroom facilities, picnic tables and a beach / swimming area in addition to a campground. There was a lot of geese poop on the grass and beach when I was there mid-summer. The road gets narrower past the entrance to the park, and about 10 km further the road turns to smooth gravel. The gravel section lasts for about 14 km. You can easily ride it on a street bike; just use caution in the corners because there can be thin layer of loose gravel on a hard base. The road descends into the valley and crosses the Thompson River via a long, narrow wooden bridge just before connecting with Hwy 1.
The naming of roads in Google Maps differs with Backroad Mapbooks, Microsoft Maps (Tom Tom) and some of the road signs along the route. Along the route I rode, these are the names in order: Paul Lake Road, Pinantan-Pritchard Road, McNulty Road, Shuswap Road and then Pinantan Road which intersects with Hwy 1.