I don’t usually get to see much of Cameron Lake as Highway 4 (the Alberni Highway,) is twisty, narrow, and not a great place to pull off to explore. Actually, pulling off is easy when heading toward Port Alberni, but really a bad idea when heading towards Parksville, and either way, getting back on the highway is difficult.
The shores along the lake and the highway itself offer spectacular views of Mount Arrowsmith and Mount Cokely – the home of a long closed ski hill.
Across the lake you can see a spectacular wooden train trestle – the line is part of the 37 mile long Port Alberni Subdivision of the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (SVI).
Previously know as the E&N (Esquimalt and Nanaimo) the railroad was owned by CP and later Rail America owned a portion of the right of ways. The Island Corridor Foundation has acquired both the CP Rail, and Rail America-owned portions of the line. As of July 1, 2006, Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, a holding company of SRY, was appointed as the new operator of the rail line.
