Gooseneck Lake on Vancouver Island has always been a great fishing lake. The first time I fished this lake was in 1961, I was with my father and an old guy named Paddy.
Now Paddy knew every lake in the area of Campbell River, and he took my dad and us kids under his wing when we moved here and showed us his fishing holes, this lake was one of these. There is a rustic boat launch with camping at the lake. There are some fair numbers of cutthroat trout in Gooseneck Lake.
The old wharf has mostly crumbled into the lake now, but back in the 60s, you could drive right out on it and fish right beside your truck. There were two wharves on the lake. The first one was used to offload the logs from trains into the lake. After offloading the logs, they would be sorted into booms and towed over to the second wharf where they would be loaded back onto trains all sorted and sent to the mill.
Most log hauling on the island was done by train back in the day, steam was the power that drove not only the trains but all the other equipment that was used. Steam donkeys for logging were phased out in favour of fuel-driven engines before my logging days, although my older brother worked on one of the last in operation, out in the Port Renfrew area.
The father of a good friend of mine used to run the log dumping machine on the first wharf, he had some wonderful stories to tell about the steam donkey days with all log hauling being done by train.
There is plenty of wildlife here, and you could see black bears, cougars, wolves, elk, deer, raccoons, pine martins and a great variety of birdlife, so don’t forget your camera when you visit Gooseneck Lake.
How do I reserve a few sites….either gooseneck or wokas lakes
Hello Budd
my wife and I are going camping on the gooseneck this coming weekend I will be sharing our trip on your site if that is ok with you. Budd you mentioned that your son ,s name is Forrest.Did he work at quinsam Coal.
No Forrest never worked there. Look forward to hearing about your camping trip.
hey man how was your weekend was it good this time of year , how is swimming in the lake ?
swimming is good at the lake
Hey bud
The campsite at Gooseneck has been developed and is now maintained and gated by Mosaic.. Now a reservable paid site.
Hello Bud, Just found out that my fathers first son, Keith Hronek, fell off a log boom at Gooseneck Lake and drowned on 1 July 1945. Thanks for your article and explaining the wharf set up. I will be wanting to make a trip to the lake this year. I hope it is still accessible and not too hard to find (I’m A city boy). His address was gooseneck Lake Quinsam Post Office. It looks like he lived with a step father who’s last name was Woodward. I guess your contacts in that area have passed. Anyway just thought I would thank you for your article.
Hi joe
Read your post as I am researching this lake to go camping, and couldn’t help but notice the step dads last name “Woodward” you mentioned. “Woody” is our best friends father and the man you mention who died, was Woodys brother. PM me if you would like contact info
Good luck in your search!
Lori Steel
Comox
Hello Lori, Just found your message. never thought I would get a reply. I would love your contac information. My email is jhronek@shaw.ca . I live in Victoria at 3130 Lynnlark Place V9B 1Z3. Do you know if “Woody” worked at Victoria Plywood for a while?
Hello Lori. Would love to make contact. I’m in Victoria. 250 474-0268 or 3130 Lynnlark Place V9B 1Z3