Quashing rumours floating around off-grid community of Frederick on Kamloops Lake
A curious little community 20 kilometres into the mountains from Kamloops is entirely off-the-grid and has been the subject of ridiculous rumours.
Located at the end of several kilometres of dirt road and over a CN railway track, Frederick is a collection of roughly 40 cabins perched on the shore of Kamloops Lake.
The people living there don’t have access to power, drinking water or a septic system.
Long-time Kamloops resident Devon O’Toole said his family used to own property there.
“My grandfather and his brothers owned the property down there back in the day,” he said. “They subdivided all the lots and kept a couple of them for awhile. People bought the lots and put in their own cabins or houses, they’re all privately-owned lots.”
Most residents live in Frederick seasonally, but O’Toole said three or four of them manage to live there year round using propane and solar energy.
“They either get water trucked in or bring in their own,” he said. “You can pump lake water up and use it for toilets and sinks but it isn’t drinkable.”
Roughly one kilometre up the road from the community is a locked gate that divides public land from private land. Residents of Frederick each have a key to get in and out.
“The people that live down there take care of the road from the gate down to their properties,” O’Toole said. “Whoever does road maintenance will plow up to the gate.”
In the past, members of the general public have tried to get past the gate to explore the area.
“People live out there because they enjoy privacy. When we used to own property there, there were people getting over the gate,” O’Toole said. “I haven’t heard of any problems involving boaters. Most people keep their properties pretty locked up and secure.”
When Kamloops resident Diego Machado was growing up, he heard rumours about Frederick.
“I heard things when I was younger and saw stuff looking online that the people in Frederick are a part of a cult and live out there so they won’t be disturbed,” he said. “That they’re all cannibals and will eat you if you go there, which was probably said to keep people out of there.”
A few years ago, Machado and a friend visited the area with their cameras looking for interesting photography opportunities. He said it took more than an hour to get there from the city centre on curvy, rough roads.
The pair came to the gate, that was open at the time, and parked outside in case it was closed while they were exploring.
“It’s is a gorgeous little indent into the hillside with old vehicles, rusted barbed wire and an abandoned shop on it,” he said. “It looked like it was a small town back in the day. Now people who live there just want to be on the lake. There are 30 or 40 houses and the people living there were all friendly and waving at us.”
But not everyone living there was friendly.
“One person drove past us on our way out and yelled at us that’s private property and we need to leave,” he said.
O’Toole said the rumours are false, much like the one made up about the fish at Frederick.
“It’s like all the fish there have three eyes because of the pulp mill,” he said. “We told all the locals that so they wouldn’t fish the lake.”
Frederick was created in 1960 as a water access only subdivision many years before the Thompson-Nicola regional district was established, according to an emailed statement from the regional district. The statement goes on to say the part of Frederick Road leading into the community is private and under the jurisdiction of the province's Ministry of Transportation and Transit.
Realtor Matt Cameron has had two adjacent lakefront lots in Frederick listed for sale on Realtor.ca for 161 days.
“There are some characters there who would be the ones to spread stories like three-eyed fish for fun," he said. "A lot of locals have said that as a joke to keep people out of the lake. No cannibals there, maybe we should end that rumour."
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