Ross Lake Resort — Hotel in Area E (Chilliwack River Valley)

I got invited to go. Wow, how amazing! I was just told to pack my clothing and planning on boating and hiking. Rest was packed by girlfriend who’s been going there pretty much all her life every summer. ||Now I understand why it is hard to book this place. So if you’re lucky enough to book a room or get invited, GO.||Like everybody says, it’s a small village of floating cabins with office/rental/employee common area. Most people take ferry from Diablo lake bringing food and whatever your toys of your choice. I suppose you could hike down and around Ross Lake dam, bringing food and such isn’t going to be easy. |Rooms/kitchen/bathroom is clean and it has a wood burning stove with firewood stocked. I didn’t use it but I heard it works well when cold. ||No cell or tv service, so people bring books or borrow games from the office. We were too tired from hiking and boating all day so after cooking dinner we just sat on the deck to watch sunset before we passed out. Oh by the way, they have a bbq grill in between cabins to use when you’re thinking of what kind of food to bring.||Sadly, many people will not be able to stay here because it’s always booked out with same people year after year but that’s probably the reason why it’s so beautiful and kept up nice. They treat it like it’s there own cabin. Who’s going to trash it when you are going to stay there next year? And people know each other after going there year after year. ||However there are many camp spots on Ross Lake and some are only accessible via boat/kayak/canoe. Ross Lake resort rent them and they are worth every penny. We had a boat and it was so nice to see the lake. They told me that full tank of gas gets you to the other end of the lake, back and half way there. I also would want to rent a canoe. I think it’s a fun way to get to a camp site and that’s what I want to...

Terrible communication for a place that provides the only way to shuttle kayaks into the lake for campers without entering another country. It doesn’t say anywhere on their portage site about SEASONAL CLOSURES and they are not associated with the National Forest. Meaning the rangers do not know when the shuttle is operating and when it is not. They will give you a permit to boat-in camp on the lake with no access to it. We got a permit to camp on Ross Lake over night this weekend. We stayed on Diablo the first night with plans to kayak up the lake and take the shuttle to our final camp destination the next day. We got to the phone and called and it just kept ringing and ringing. Finally a ranger pulled up in a boat, having no idea why they weren’t answering and was nice enough to radio in to find out that they were “probably not open for the season yet.” Luckily I had a satellite communicator and was able to message my wife to confirm what was going on. She called and there was voice message saying the water taxi was still closed for the season (nothing about portage, which is a separate service) at this point, because camping is strictly prohibited on Diablo without a permit, and because we were dropped off for the weekend we were stranded and had to abandon the weekend. Again, luckily we had a communicator and was able to message for an early ride home. Better communication is needed. Come on post a sign up at the phone or at least update your portage site WITH...

The popularity of these cabins is well deserved. The views are stunning - photos of them are exceptional but still do not do the scenery justice. The changing light and colors on the surrounding peaks and the surface of the lake are breathtaking- and exciting to watch throughout the day. The stargazing is incredible (consider bringing a sleeping bag to lay on the deck). If you get a call from the lottery list, go - it could be your only chance and it's not worth passing up! Things that I wished that I had packed: paper towels and a cozy blanket for sitting out front in the early mornings and at night. For transporting your goods, I recommend packing things (even clothing) into tubbies/packing bins instead of duffels/backpacks/suitcases. This makes it easy to stack them for the boats in and out, the truck ride, and they can be easily stowed under beds during your stay. Separate note - I am so impressed by the amount of work that the staff put in, to make this place float (literally). Two of the four mornings that we were there, one cabin was beached (due to the nearby dam releasing water and the lake dropping level) and, somehow, they moved it back out to water. Their willingness and adeptness at dealing with both whatever the mountain environment + a varied population of humans (very distinctly 3 types when I visited: fishing men, sweet elderly retiree couples, and families with busy kids) throws at them -...