Diana Lake Provincial Park, located 16 km east of Prince Rupert on Highway 16, is one of the few non-rocky shored beaches in the area, and a very popular spot for swimming, sun tanning, bicycle riding, having fires, etc.
However lake-goers will have to wait longer than usual this year to enjoy the site, with Diana Lake Provincial Park not expected to be open to the public until some time in June.
Access to Diana Lake, and the many nature trails located near it, was blocked off on September 6, 2011 after flooding occurred during a storm. The road was washed out and had to be closed for public health and safety reasons.
The Park was scheduled to close for the end of the season on September 15, 2011 so it was simply closed a few days earlier than planned.
BC Parks generally reopens Diana Lake on or around May 15 each year, but this year the public will have to wait until mid-June, so all the necessary repairs can be done.
Now that all the snow has melted, BC Parks has recently completed the required assessment of the road and have identified the scope of work that needs to be done to the park to restore it to pre-flood conditions.
Suntanu Dalal, who is Communications Officer of the Ministry of Environment, told the Prince Rupert Northern View via email that “BC Parks is in the process of having the works undertaken, which include road and culvert work plus trail repairs.”