Harrison Hot Springs

Two springs rise at the south end of the lake, known as Potash (about 40 degrees C) and Sulphur (reported at 62 to 65 degrees C, since sources differ). The water is pumped from one of the springs and cooled before it is piped to the public Harrison Mineral Baths, which the Harrison Hot Springs Resort owns and operates, and to the resort pools. Wikipedia describes the vent as the most sulphurous in the Lillooet River and Harrison Lake chain, which is why the pools have a distinct mineral smell.

Before European settlement, the Sts'ailes people lived nearby and revered the springs as a healing place. Tourism Harrison notes that their name for the springs refers to boiling water. Accounts of the European 'discovery' vary: one popular story places it in 1858, when gold-rush travellers whose boat capsized found the water warm, and another credits Judge Matthew Baillie Begbie with naming the springs St. Alice's Well in 1859 after a daughter of Governor James Douglas. The 'Harrison' name honours Benjamin Harrison, a former Hudson's Bay Company deputy governor, though the exact date it was applied is disputed among sources.

The resort era began in 1886 when the Canadian Pacific Railway put the springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental line. The original hotel burned in July 1920, and a replacement opened in 1926 on the site of the earlier St. Alice Hotel. The Village of Harrison Hot Springs was incorporated in 1949, and the 2021 population was roughly 1,500 according to Wikipedia's estimate.

The village is compact and walkable, centred on the lagoon, beach and promenade. Visitors can soak in the indoor public mineral pool or stay at the resort, take a jet-boat tour on Harrison Lake, walk to the public art gallery, or play the nine-hole golf course, per Wikipedia. The Harrison Festival of the Arts is held each July. Sasquatch is a local theme, with a mascot called Hot Springs Harry; the sasquatch legend itself is folklore and should be treated as such.

Sasquatch Provincial Park lies just north and offers lake and forest recreation, including Hicks Lake and Deer Lake.

Geologists have warned that an unstable rock face on Mount Breakenridge could in theory collapse into the lake and trigger a wave, a long-term hazard noted by Wikipedia rather than a near-term concern. Hours, pool access and ticketing change, so check the village, Tourism Harrison and the operators before you go.

Cultus Lake, Chilliwack and the Fraser River are all within an easy drive, as is Agassiz. A Voyzo private tour with your own driver makes it simple to combine a soak with lake and valley stops, with door-to-door pickup.