Lightning Lake is a beautiful spot to spend some time in the summer. There’s plenty of parking and picnic tables, and cute little ground squirrels running around everywhere! A mostly level hiking trail circumnavigates the lake, with a bridge crossing at the halfway point.
Lightning Lake is freshwater, very cold, and has an unusual feature — it drains in two directions! Yep, it drains into Flash Lake to the south and the Similkameen River to the north. At the north end, near the day-use area, there’s an earthen dam that was installed in 1968. You’ll cross this dam on your way to ground zero, which is near the Mount Frosty trail head.
No motorized boats are allowed on the lake, but canoes, kayaks, and rowboats are fine. There’s a public boat launch and a canoe rental, visible in the above photo. You’ll probably see people fishing for trout from boats and the shoreline. Most of the trout are 25 cm (10”) in length, and you’ll need a licence to fish. If you're at the lake in the early evening, you'll see the fish eating insects on the surface of the lake.
The cache is a black, medium-sized match container. It is accessible year round, by walking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter. The cell service in Manning Park is sketchy, so be sure to download the cache info to your GPSr or to an offline list on your phone.