Horseshoe Lake

Stillwater
1
Species recorded
Horseshoe Lake sits north of Peckhams Lake in the East Kootenay, reached by following the Wardner–Fort Steele Road north from Peckhams onto Horseshoe Lake Road. It is a put-and-take fishery for stocked rainbow trout, and its shoreline draws hikers, mountain bikers, swimmers, canoeists and kayakers through the same warm months anglers are working the shoals.
No live gauge
No gauge readings are available for this water.
Season
Driving directions

At a glance

Fact
Details
Type
Stocked put-and-take stillwater
Size
10.7 ha, to 11.6 m deep
Location
North of Peckhams Lake, near Fort Steele
Stocked
Pennask triploid rainbow, ~3,000/yr
Rules
No powered boats (4-22)
Also
Hiking, paddling, swimming

Species

Region 4 Regulations — guide reviewed 2026-07-08

Horseshoe Lake (4-22): no powered boats. Standard Region 4 daily quota and bait rules otherwise apply. Confirm the current synopsis before you fish.

Measurements

Measurement
Reported value
Maximum depth
11.6 m
Mean depth
2.7 m

The water

The lake is a compact 10.7 hectares but carries real depth for its size: a Province of BC survey recorded a maximum of 11.6 m and a mean of 2.7 m, with 5.5 m of water clarity (Secchi depth) and a slightly alkaline surface pH of 8.4, typical of Rocky Mountain Trench lakes in this part of the East Kootenay. That depth gives the fish a cool refuge to retreat to once the shallow shoal water warms through summer.

Stocking

For an angler judging whether the drive is worth it, the stocking record is the fishing report. Horseshoe has been topped up every spring from 2017 through 2026 with Pennask all-female triploid rainbow yearlings, 3,000 fish released each April, averaging roughly 4.5 to 9.8 grams at release. That is a small, steady put-and-take program built around fingerling-sized fish that grow on through the season rather than a one-off dump of catchables.

The fishing

Horseshoe's confirmed record is short: location, the resident species, and the stocking numbers above. No lake-specific fishing report is on record for it, so fish it on the standard small-lake program that works the rest of the Peckhams-Norbury cluster: a chironomid under an indicator over the shoal water in spring and early summer, then a Woolly Bugger or leech worked slow along the drop-off into the 11.6 m hole as the shallows warm. Round out an evening with a small dry to match the rise if fish are working the surface.
Fact
Details
Rainbow Trout
Pennask triploid, ~3,000/yr
11.6 m max, 2.7 m mean
10.7 ha, Secchi 5.5 m
No powered boats
Region 4-22
Multi-use shoreline
Hiking, biking, swimming, paddling

What's confirmed here

Beyond location, species and the stocking numbers above, Horseshoe does not have a lake-specific tactics report on file. Treat the fishing notes above as the general small-lake stillwater playbook for this cluster of lakes, not a confirmed Horseshoe-specific read.

Access and the rules

Reach the lake by driving north from Peckhams Lake on the Wardner–Fort Steele Road, then onto Horseshoe Lake Road. It sits close enough to Peckhams and Norbury Lake Provincial Park to pair with either on the same trip, and shares the same East Kootenay recreation corridor as hiking and biking trails, so expect company on the shoreline through summer.

Before you fish

Horseshoe Lake (4-22) bans powered boats. Standard Region 4 daily quota and bait rules otherwise apply. Confirm the current Region 4 synopsis before you go.

Questions

Page reviewed 2026-07-08