This area is mostly unknown, except to a few snowmobilers, ATVers, or hunters.   The lakes lie in an area east of Lac le Jeune (4 km as the crow flies) and north of Ross Moore Lake (2km).   The best road access is to take the McConnell Forest Service Road (a good gravel road, heading east off the Lac le Jeune Road).  There is currently active logging 10km down the road, so proceed carefully since the loaded trucks come out of the bush on this road.   At the 8km mark, park near the old road bearing west just past the 8km sign.   From the trailhead to the first Bute Lake is only 0.25 km.

This lake has been dammed and is now much larger than is shown on Google Earth.  From the lake’s edge, a track goes south then west through a logged area.  At a junction, one track continues south to overlook the Upper Bute Lake.   An old cabin stands on a point of land between the wet meadows.    The other fork at the junction crosses the creek between the lakes and continues up through a logged area to another backroad.   It appears that we could connect over to the Stake Lake system this way on foot or mountain bike or possibly over to Ross Moore Lake by a circuitous route.

I had hoped to spot some wildlife in the wet meadows and later on, I spotted 2 adult moose and a calf.   There was also bear scats and deer tracks in the area.   Wildflowers and flowering shrubs were just getting started at this elevation 1262m (4140 feet).   The whole area was quiet.   It is always fun to explore new areas.   On this day, I covered about 6 km exploring different tracks and new viewpoints.   Once some linkages to the Lac le Jeune area are found, this will be a good mountain bike ride.

Back at the parking area, I then drove on to next junction and turned left.   I knew the route from previous explorations so I continued down this rougher road to a 3-way junction with the Dropping Water Forest Service Road (which is an active logging area right now) and the Long Lake Road.  I went left again and followed the Long Lake Road to the open meadows surrounding the Brigade Lake area and back on the Brigade Lake Road to Knutsford, completing a loop route.