.png)
ARRIVING AT FORTRESS LAKE
Enjoy the 30 minute Helicopter flight through the Canadian Rockies
Fortress Lake is located in Hamber Provincial Park. Hamber Park is in a remote reach of the province of BC, and is butted against Jasper National Park. The region is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are no roads, no industrial activity, and no motorized ground access. The only access is a 24 km hike to our location which limits the use of Fortress Lake to very few. The valley is dominated by several mountain peaks. The lake is at 4400 feet elevation and the mountains angle steeply to heights over 10,000 feet.
The fly fishing and the scenery experiences at Fortress Lake Wilderness Retreat are second to none – except, perhaps, the flight accessing our location. Getting there is half the fun. Described as “an IMAX movie come to life” by Fly Fisherman Magazine, we enjoy one of North America’s most scenic Rocky Mountain flights.
We fly near and over the world renowned Columbia Icefields of Jasper National Park before landing at Fortress Lake. The Columbia Icefield is the only place in North America where water origins drain to three oceans – the Pacific Ocean (Columbia River), the Arctic Ocean (Athabasca River), and the Atlantic Ocean (Saskatchewan River). We fly near or past 7 of the 9 highest peaks in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The flight to Fortress Lake is a photographer’s dream, including vast, scenic views of the Columbia Icefield, the world renowned Maligne Lake, Chaba Glacier, Mount Alberta, headwaters of the Athabasca River, Mount Clemenceau, and Mount Columbia.
“The flight is incredible. Imagine flying between mountains, over the Columbia Icefield and seeing the headwaters of the Athabasca, Columbia, and Saskatchewan Rivers, complete
with icebergs!” ~ San Francisco Chronicle
“Over, around, and through still yet another gorge we would fly. And then, before us, emerged a large piece of water sheltered on all sides by mammoth walls of stone and ice” ~ Steve Probasco, Editor NW Fly Fishing
