British Columbia Roadtrips, Canada
Discover the Back Roads of Rural BC by Driving Through the Province
Aug 19, 2008
BC is a haven for quaint towns, untamed forest, abundant wildlife and once-booming gold mine sites. To find these gems, you must set out on a roadtrip to the rural countryside of British Columbia. Here you’ll find peace, solitude and interesting bits of history.
British Columbia Roadtrips
Navigating through the numerous backroads of BC can be difficult, even for residents of the province. The prettiest routes are often unmarked and terrific viewpoints are sometimes hidden.
Fortunately, Liz Bryan makes a rewarding roadtrip possible by guiding travellers in her book, Exploring the Interior: Country Roads of British Columbia.
Barkerville, BC
The town of Barkerville is a popular destination for its re-creation of itself, the most famous gold-rush town in BC. False front buildings line the street, transporting visitors back to the late 1800’s.
The journey to Barkerville, though, is so much more than highway pavement. Liz takes roadtrippers from 150 Mile House, Beaver Lake, and along Cariboo Lake, Little and Matthew Rivers, before getting to Barkerville.
Hedley, BC
The mining town of Hedley, BC is another destination gaining in popularity with tourists, but if you don’t know all the back roads, it’s not quite the same. This area is filled with roads that take you winding up the mountain and past places that the regular bus tours show you.
Ghost Towns in British Columbia
The days of the gold rush are long gone but remnants of this booming time can be found in the ghost towns that litter BC.
One of Liz’s routes takes roadtrippers from Princeton and north along the abandoned VV&E (Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway) track (now the Trans-Canada Trail) as it cuddles up against the Tulameen River.
An interesting stop along the way looks like the small town of Coalmont. The three-story 1911 hotel is still in action, painted a bright red colour and showing its age with pride.
Exploring the Interior: Country Roads of British Columbia
Part guidebook, with clear routes marked throughout, Liz’s book skips the hotel and attraction listings and instead describes the countryside with lyrical beauty. To accompany her explorations are awesome photos of the province at its most magnificent.
For those who want to explore deeper into BC, this guide will take you past the tourist traps and into the history and vitality of the province. British Columbia is one of those places that provides jaw-dropping moments and the rural parts are where to be wowed.
About Liz Bryan: Liz, a co-founder of Western Living magazine, is one of British Columbia’s premier travel writer/photographers.
Exploring the Interior: Country Roads of British Columbia (ISBN 9781894974431) by Liz Bryan is published by Heritage House and can be found at AMAZON.
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