The Nanaimo Lakes on Vancouver Island are a series of four very popular recreation lakes located southwest of Nanaimo along the Nanaimo River. You take the Nanaimo River road to reach them. The road is paved to the east end of the first lake, then is a good gravel road from thereon.
The Nanaimo lakes offer some great fishing for rainbow and cutthroat trout. There are a few kokanee and dolly varden trout here also. Stocking occurs in the first lake with cutthroat trout and in the fourth lake with cutthroat and rainbow trout, some of these trout can reach an impressive size. They can get to be around 2.5 kg.
Camping is available at the first and fourth lake and there are boat launches on all four lakes. There is an abundance of wildlife here, and you could see black bears, roosevelt elk, blacktail deer, and many smaller animals, plus the birdlife and flowering plants can be quite impressive, so don’t forget your camera when you visit the lakes.