Kentucky-Alleyne Provincial Park
This is another favourite spot of Tena and me. It’s not far from Merritt, BC on the way towards Kelowna.
This place has some history with me! Back in the 1970’s when I was a teenager, I belonged to a Christian group called the Gospel Rangers – they were based out of Abbotsford. I’ve been trying to track down some of my old friends I met in the group but no luck so far. Anyhow during the summers we’d travel here to Alleyne Lake for their summer youth camp. This was back before the area became a provincial park. The camps were a lot of fun, and I met some great people. I don’t recall what happened but in the late 1970’s they moved the camp location closer to home in the Fraser Valley. There are still plaques in the ground in the hill above where we set up camp at Alleyne Lake in what is now the group campsite on the north end of the lake.
So then a lot of years have passed and as I mentioned the area is now a beautiful provincial park… Tena and I first visited during the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend, so the photos start from that point on… although it was a number of years before we went back again, we hope to travel there more often.
On May 23rd, 2016 – Tena and I made a quick stop at Kentucky Alleyne, and I managed to get a few pictures of the balsamroot flowers in bloom. Those are the latest pictures in this post
Today November 20, 2022 I have added some pictures of the Gospel Ranger metal plates that are still there in the ground.
hi there, i was just at kentucky-alleyne lakes this weekend and kayaked both lakes
we were also geocaching and there is a cache called rangers rock on top of the hill where the plaques are
am curious what they are or mean
thanks
Are you talking about a cache called rangers rock? Because I don’t know anything about the cache. But I’m probably one of the few people in the world who can tell you a little bit about the plaques in the ground, as I was there when some of them were put into the ground back in the 1970’s. It was a bible camp run by a man called James Wolfe and they placed the plaques in the ground to remember the camps that were held there. I was really quite surprised a few years back when I first discovered they were still there! James has since passed away but his son Larry is still with us.
My son is Robert Allene from Lexington KY. How did this park get its name? So interesting
I’m sorry I haven’t been maintaining this site very well, took a bit of a break! I can’t find anything on the history of the park other than that it was formed in 1981 from former cattle land. There are two lakes in the park, one is Kentucky Lake and the other is Alleyne Lake.
I have just read your story, and yes I do know all about the camp. I am Mr Wolfe’s oldest daughter and we are going up there tomorrow. My sister Gloria and her husband Walter have a ton of pictures. We still live in Abbotsford. Mom passed away eight years ago. Larry lives in Mission
I realize in all those pics I don’t think I posted a picture of those plaques…
We did go up to the lake yesterday and we found the plates that were placed in a pattern of a cross.. I must say that the memories flooded both my niece Brenda and l. The wind was blowing and it was as though we could hear singing around the campfire. Truly a really sacred moment. Also where the cross was put into the ground there is now a marker to commemorate a monument of these camps. There are eight plates that overlook the lake. We both were in tears as we prayed for the names buried under each plate. It was hard to leave but we knew that Mom and Dad were looking down pleased we came. What an awesome experience.
Brenda and I did visit the Gospel Rangers camp in which was my Dads Legacy. What an experience we had it was the most wonderful part of the day. We felt the wind and stood on the plates that were formed into a cross. We let view of the lake flood us with the memories . I stood in awesomeness of the many kids whose names were sealed underneath those plates. There is a Park reference monument marker witnessing the event where the cross once stood.. we didn’t want to leave! Truly a great experience . It’s worth the trip and hike.