Things To Do
You turn off Highway 16 near Monster Industries, across from the Bulkley River on the outskirts of Houston. Keep going past the sawmills and industrial area. All logging roads are radio controlled. If you do not have a radio to call out your miles, someone who does will inform the next oncoming vehicle of your presence. This is for safety reasons.
September 2012, a man from Anchorage, Alaska was fishing on the Morice River when he was mauled by a grizzly bear. The attack occurred around 7:30 p.m., 23 kilometres up the Morice River Road, as the fisherman was preparing to leave the area.
It was a very serious attack. The 65 year old man suffered severe injuries to his face and many puncture wounds and claw wounds to the upper torso.
Despite the severity of his injuries, the fisherman crawled approximately 300 metres back to his vehicle along the Morice River Road where he was spotted by a woman driving by who upon noticing the wounds called emergency services.
A search failed to find the bear. Based on what the angler said, Conservation Officer Nixon believed the angler accidentally startled the bear when he stood up after putting his gear down behind two fallen cottonwood trees. It was just a whole bunch of bad luck. There was at least one cub, maybe two. It had been a defensive attack. Such attacks are rare in these parts.
I've spent a lot of time in this area in 2013. I came to know 5 grizzlies. Some with cubs. Never had a problem with them. We just respected each other's boundaries. I paid attention to schedules around water sources and foraging routes and times.
Drive until you reach the 27.3 km mark. There you will see a turnoff on your right. This is the continuation of Morice FSR. The road you were on now becomes the Morice Owen Forest Service Road. That takes you to Owen Lake and several other roads. So turn right.
You will find some spots beside the road just up a ways where you can park to fish and also some spots where you can camp called Owen Flats Recreation Site A. There are a few picnic tables and firepits. These are located beside the road practically. So there is no privacy if you are camping and no outhouse.
If you keep going, you will find a better location around the 29.5 km mark. Owen Flats Recreation Site B. You need to pass the turn off for Chisholm FSR to reach it. The road will be on your right. It is narrow and could be rutty. I've made it in with my 27 foot motorhome. Best thing to do is to park and walk in to check it out. The location is away from the road and in a wooded area. Provides seclusion and is right by the Morice River.
There are 9 separate camping spots. Picnic tables, firepits and an outhouse.
It's a really nice location. Primarily used for fishing and hunting. You might see some moose hangers here and there.
The river is known for dry fly fishing and steelhead. It is believed to be the best dry fly fishery in the world.
You will also find Sockeye, Chinook, Coho and Pink salmon, whitefish, Redside shiner, Bull trout, Longnose sucker and White sucker in the Morice River Watershed.
Be advised there are grizzlies, black bears, wolves, coyotes and cougar here. If you have dogs, keep a close eye on them. This is where wolves are concerned.
While I've never had a problem with the bears, I have with the wolves. One night, two of them made an attempt to jump through two separate windows of my motorhome, at the very same time. They were not successful but the fact that they tried was scary enough. I had two dogs inside with me at the time. This was around 9 pm. I would later encounter further problems with this pack while camped on top of the gravel pit on Owen Lookout Road.
The cougar I captured on my trail cam too but never had any issues with it.
This part of the Morice FSR doesn't receive as much traffic as back out at the 27.3 km mark where it heads up to Owen Lake and beyond. If you were to continue on this part of the Morice FSR it will lead you to Collins Lake, McBride Lake and Morice Lake.
There are lots of opportunities to see wildlife in these parts. It does get windy around the lakes. Especially McBride Lake onwards. You may encounter sections where trees have fallen on the road. Best to have a chainsaw with you.
Owen Lookout Cabin
A short distance from this recreation site, you will find Owen Lookout Road on your left. It starts through a gravel pit. The road up leads to Owen lookout Cabin. The lookout offers views of Morice Mountain and features tables and chairs, a wide wrap-around deck, wood stove and outhouse. There are tenting sites available at the lookout.
Collins Lake
Just after 58 km the Collins road takes off to the left and goes across a bridge. There is a large open landing area where lake access is easy. This spot can be used for camping, however there are no amenities on site. Another access point is just after 59 km. Across from the Nado FSR junction there is a small access point to the left of the road.
The Morice River Rd follows the shore of the lake for many kilometres, accessing the lake can be done in many locations. Resident Cutthroat Trout and sucker fish are common in the lake. The deepest part of the lake is approx. 80 feet near the Southern end of the lake.
Northern River Otters can be seen here and Lynx too. Bald eagles and ospreys. The lake has clams.
There is a cabin near the lakeshore which belongs to Nanika Outfitters. It's used for hunting and is available to rent-for-use during off season.
The public cannot just go there and use it without permission. I've rented it out on a number of occasions. The last time was for 5 weeks spring of 2013.
It has gone through some changes since.
 |
| Collins Lake |
McBride Lake
The next lake up is McBride Lake. I don't have any fishing information for this lake.
Morice Lake Park
Beyond McBride Lake you travel just past 75 km mark and take a right at the intersection. A further 7 km in will take you to Morice Lake Park.
The Sanctuary Cabin is available for public use on a first come, first served basis. It is equipped with a woodstove and can accommodate four to six people. Visitors must supply their own sleeping and cooking equipment.
Morice Lake Park has an 18 unit campsite. Each of the campsites has a picnic table and fire ring. Pit toilets are available. The sites are suitable for tenting, pickup trucks with campers and small trailers. The campground is accessible during snow free months. Wilderness camping is allowed, but no facilities are provided. Outhouses available.
A gravel boat launch is situated at the North end of the Morice Lake campsite. The boat launch is not steep. In fall when the water is low, it is often difficult to get boat trailers into deep enough water to launch.
Morice supports a good fishery for Rainbow, Cutthroat and Lake Char. This large lake will produce Lake Char to 12+ lbs, Rainbows to 6+ lbs and Cutthroat to 3 lbs.
Campfires are permitted. Cutting or otherwise damaging any standing or fallen trees within the park is prohibited. Please collect firewood from outside the park.
Recreational activities in Morice Lake Park include boating, camping, canoeing, fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking, mountaineering and hunting. Morice Lake provides road accessible camping and boating opportunities in a largely wilderness setting. Waterskiing and windsurfing are not popular activities on Morice Lake due to its very cold temperature.
Atna Bay is a popular destination with a waterfall on the Atna River connecting Atna Lake to Morice Lake. There is a series of three portage trails between Morice Lake and Atna Lake for canoe access into Atna River Park.
Chisholm Forest Service Road
In the opposite direction, not far from Owen Flats Recreation Site (29 km) is the turnoff for Chisholm FSR. A bridge crosses the Morice River. It is a nice drive along here and goes for quite a ways. You could see some wildlife out this way.
Chisholm Lake is at 31 km but there is no sign. At the 30 km mark you will start going down hill. The turn off is on your right. From what I hear there are small sized Cutthroat trout here.
If you continue driving you will encounter signs on both sides of the road announcing that you are entering Unist'ot'en Yintah' Traditional Territory. Please be respectful while you are visiting their traditional territory. Don't leave any garbage laying around.
Indigenous People
The Morice Watershed is the heart of Wet'suwet'en First Nation. There are five clans: Gilseyhu (Big Frog), Laksilyu (Small Frog), Gitdumden (Wolf/Bear), Laksamshu (Fireweed) and Tsayu (Beaver clan). These five clans are further divided in 13 house groups.
My family has known a number of different families of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation since the 70's. Such as Morris, Williams and Ganyons to name a few. Alphonse Ganyon, wife Lucy, his children and his brothers are very near and dear to my family. Alphonse and his family used to come out to our ranch in the 70's to make their gaffs for fishing salmon in the Bulkley River. In return, they would gift us salmon. In those days the salmon were huge! When my mother passed away in 2019, Alphonse was there for my family. I will never forget his kindness. Much love and respect for him. Always. 💓🙏
Please be respectful of their traditional lands while you are visiting.
👉Owen Flats Recreation Site is one area where I have received the best results with regards to Bigfoot research. It all started back in 2013 while camped in this recreation site and I wasn't even there for that purpose at the time.
In 2013: Three nights in a row. Between the hours of 10 pm and 11:30 pm, an unknown animal howled once from the top of a heavily forested hill (Owen Lookout). Sounding similar to a drawn out "yee-oowwwww-eeeeee'. Best way to describe it would be a deep throaty growl, to a howl, to a scream. As if the creature began with its chin at its chest until it thrust its head as far back as it could. Vocal sounded mixed animal with a tinge of human. The animal was capable of projecting its voice loudly and strong and would would have been heard for many miles across the remote area. We were in the valley for a period of two months. Those howls were only heard those three nights in a row.
Since then, I discovered tracks of the youngest Bigfoot I have ever had the privilege to see in the gravel pit across the bridge on the Chisholm. The size of a very small toddler. I would later see this youngster while camped above the gravel pit on Owen Lookout Road (as seen in photo) back in 2017. It jumped from one tree to another, on a downhill slope. Knees bunched up against its chest. I could see its little feet and hands. This is not the only family unit I am aware of. It's father was the one I heard back in 2013. I've had encounters and experiences with this family unit on a number of different occasions. There are a number of family units throughout the watershed and many lakes from here to Burns Lake area. Sign that they are not disappearing any time soon. They have always been around. I've had way too many experiences in and around this location to mention here. This was part of one of my project areas I called Eden Project.
👉Fire destroyed a lot of history. During the Vietnam War, US draft dodgers fled to this area where they built cabins and other shelters in the woods. In an effort to stop them, the forest service hired individuals to burn down their cabins. Many cabins destroyed belonged to prospectors, trappers, and those families who lived and worked in the woods as loggers. I knew one of those hired individuals and heard this story straight from him. One of the valley's early pioneers Jim Campbell was a logger out that way. He and his wife and five children lived in a cabin on skids which they would move around from work site, to work site. They were one of those logging families who narrowly escaped one of those fires.
In 1983, two Swiss tourists were smoking fish near their Parrot Lake campsite when their fire got away on them. The Swiss fire burned approximately 18,000 hectares south and west of Houston. Six families lost their homes.
📢There could be a problem getting to this or any other location down this part of the Morice FSR from 27 km onwards, due to indigenous peoples concerns with the pipeline whose traditional territory is being effected. 2018 onwards I refrained from further research in this section of Eden Project due to that fact.
There is no cell service out here. If memory serves me right, I believe you can pick up some service down around 9 or 10 km on the Morice FSR. Somewhere around there.
Barb Cecil