Any ideas for "Must do" on a 3 week visit to BC?

[sturmy]

Hi,

I'm coming over to your neck of the woods for a flying visit, late July, early August.

Any suggestions of fantastic places to visit/see would be appreciated! We tend to try and avoid crowds and touristy spots, but guess that is hard in July & August
We will be heading up to Whistler to pick up our Son who's blagged a weeks holiday and then provisionally off towards the Kootenay area. The last week we hope to spend on Vancouver Island as my partner is keen to get out in a sea kayak.

Also is it worth hiring a 4x4 to make it easier to wild camp on logging roads (is this legal?!)? I take it nobody has a business hiring out Delicas yet?! Or will we get by with a car?

My son has already mentioned St Agnes Well hot springs. but any other suggestions on places to go or avoid would be much appreciated.

Cheers

James


http://www.theoverlander.org/

[konadog]

Nice Hope you have a great trip. 4x4 is for sure a better choice, IMO, but you can still get to lots of areas with a car. I camp (or used too - don't get out near as much these past few years...) in the back country here on north/central Vancouver Island no problem. Btw, it's a loooong day's drive from the Koots to the Island... Areas do get closed off if the fire risk is too high though. Lots of great and varied kayaking opportunities - perhaps you'll hear from one of the deli-crew here that are into that. Keep us posted here on your plans and please post some pictures of your adventures here!

[Spearo]

Port Hardy area is my fave place in the world- I go at least once per year and it's off the lower island path so not crowded.... and there are places where you get an idea of what it was like 500 years ago. Ucluelet/Tofino also beautiful but can be busy.
Enjoy!

[marsgal42]

Continue up Highway 99 from Whistler to the Cariboo. Do not make the mistake that the only part of B.C. worth seeing is the southern 200 or so kilometers.

...laura

[jrman]

Agree with Marsgal - recommend Vancouver to Whistler - then Duffy Lake road to Lillooet, Cache Creek, Kamloops, then North to Blue River eventually Mount Robson & the Rockies - then work your way South to the Kootenays and finally back west to Vancouver. Lots of driving but great scenery. Might kill the Sea Kayaking side of things as that is a trip unto itself - but depending on the level of experience you are looking for, you can always take a day trip out of Vancouver and rent a sea Kayak in Deep Cove and head up Indian Arm to get a fix.

Best option unguided is;
http://www.deepcovekayak.com/

Or another option if you prefer guided at;
http://www.northshorekayaks.com/

Really, there is too many ideas in this vast land for 3 weeks - but you can't go wrong if you string any trip together by linking National and/or Provincial Parks - see following links;

National
http://www.pc.gc.ca/voyage-travel/index_e.asp

Provincial
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/index.html

And agree with previous posts - probably most common mistake is under estimating the distances here in BC. I recommend taking a long look at that map carefully noting the distances and build in a 10-20% margin of error for summer road maintenance, stops at viewpoints etc. Most highways are going to be average 80 Km/hr while the few freeways we have will be 100-110 Km/h.

Good luck and hope you enjoy visiting us out West!
Cheers.

[sturmy]

Thanks for all the ideas & info

It really is a great help, as all the books and stuff just go on about Banff, Jasper etc. Your not kidding about getting our heads around the distances! Also I don't just want to spend three weeks driving & go home needing a holiday!

Thanks for the links Jrman I will browse later when I get back from work.

Cheers

James

[TAIT]

There are plenty of beautiful spots here in the Kootenays...from Roger's Pass (some of the most beautiful mountains you'll ever lay eyes upon!), to an endless list of Hot Springs (Radium, Halcyon, Coyote, Halfway, St.Leon, etc). Camping is easy, affordable, and there are no end to the choices. We have both public (Government) campsites with a range of services, to private with the option to do the full-on tenting thing or relax in a rustic log chalet. As well, you will find a host of BC Forest Service campsites (especially if you decide to drive along the Duffy Lake Rd.) which are free.
Don't forget to check out the Alpine Club of Canada and their selection of backcountry huts.
I've had friends come here to visit in Revelstoke for a couple days, and end up staying their entire vacation...SO MANY things to do!! Just please keep in mind how incredibly vast this country is, not to mention this province.
Have fun!! And look us up if you pass through Revelstoke...a town of 7500 people, with 5 delica owners.

Chris

[marsgal42]

Lots of us have done trips around B.C. Here are links to some of mine:

http://www.delica.ca/forum/duffy-lake-3842.html
http://www.delica.ca/forum/gumdrop-in-t ... -2836.html
http://www.delica.ca/forum/north-to-the ... -1346.html

...laura

[Kei King]

Check out W. Hastings.... Just joking.

[mararmeisto]

Witty's Lagoon, French Beach, Point No Point, Mystic Beach, Port Renfrew, Tofino, etc, etc, all on the left-coast of Vancouver Island. Canada's sub-tropical rainforest area, and it's wonderful year-round, but definitely a bit drier during the summer. Still wet, but drier than during the winter.

[flyfishn]

Actually Hastings and Main is a good reality check.

Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge (free) and the trails all around it. Beautiful.

[jrman]

Oddly enough...picked up a friend of my Mothers from YVR a few years back - she was a social worker from the streets of Detroit and her first request en route to my Mothers home was to drive by the "rough" part of town...sadly, she thought Main & Hastings was pretty posh. Then there was a trip with my wife to Mexico City....well, it's all relative really isn't it.....

[dagwod]

I've posted very little here, but I've recently driven through a big part of BC and there are so many places to recommend if you have the time. Last summer, we drove our Delica from Parksville up north, getting a few hundred km's north of Dawson City, Yukon, with a few short trips into and out of Alaska and then home again. It was a 2 week trip, covering 9300kms.
Vancouver Island, as many of the other posts say, has many places to visit. I love it here. There are many places to find things to see and do on the Island. I don't think you'll see or hear as much about Norther BC, but BC is a big province.
The Cassiar Highway (#37), is very scenic on the way north. Side trips into places such as Stewart, BC and Hyder, Alaska (2 very small towns a short drive off the highway) can give you great glacier viewing opportunities. A trip into Telegraph Creek is well worth the drive. Turn off the Cassiar highway at Dease Lake. It is a dirt road and it doesn't seem like much for the first hour, but then everything changes. There are some "steep gradients (up to 20 percent), narrow passages along canyon walls (with no guard rails), and sharply angled switchbacks. Not suitable for trailers" http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/ ... ownID=3675
A loop can be made after the Cassiar Highway by traveling east and then back south along the Alaska Highway, after entering the Yukon. Again,there are many places to see driving back south.
There is much to see and going this far takes time, but as others have said, there is much to see outside of the southern few hundred km's of the province, all depending on how you like to travel.

Have a great trip where ever you end up going!