Food in Northeast BC is rustic and simple, but never dull. From big game to roadside treats worth making a detour for, here are five of our favourite things to sample in the region.
Food in Northeast BC is rustic and simple, but never dull. From big game to roadside treats worth making a detour for, here are five of our favourite things to sample in the region.
Skip mountain villages with bustling crowds and instead make your way to BC’s Northeast — a region that knows how to do winter well.
The Northern Lights are one of Mother Nature’s most spectacular sights and here in the Northeast, you have one of the best chances of seeing them in British Columbia.
Skip mountain villages with bustling crowds and instead make your way to BC’s Northeast — a region that knows how to do winter well.
The raw and rugged scenery of BC’s Northeast is anything but ordinary. From lakeside A-frame cabins to remote fishing outposts set deep in the heart of the Muskwa-Kechika, here are nine cool stays that aren’t your average hotel.
One glimpse at Northeast BC’s lake-dotted landscape reveals a paddler’s paradise, one that promises few crowds and plenty of scenery. Here you’ll find pristine waterways framed by sweet-smelling pine and spruce forests and well-stocked lakes, home to rainbow trout, walleye, and northern pike.
A road trip along the storied Alaska Highway offers jaw-dropping scenery and wildlife at every turn. But it’s not all views and photo-ops. The area’s museums, art galleries, and historic points of interest weave together the rich and fascinating story of the region and the people who live, work and play here.
For weary road trippers taking on the Alaska Highway, the thermal waters of Liard River offer a moment of stillness amid one of the world’s great drives. But linger a little longer and you’ll find it’s more than just a relaxing rest stop.
Tumbler Ridge is big on adventure. Located within Northeastern BC, it sits within one of Canada’s UNESCO Global Geoparks and its surrounding wilderness holds every imaginable adventure close at hand.
For most visitors, driving the Alaska Highway is the highlight of their trip to Northeastern BC: A 2,000-kilometre-long odyssey that takes you in view of the jade waters of Muncho Lake, the hot springs of Liard River, and the famous Mile 0 cairn in Dawson Creek, among other iconic stops.
Extending from the foothills of the eastern Rocky Mountains to the rolling wheat fields of the Peace River District, the landscapes in Northeastern BC are as wild as they are beautiful.
Long northern days stretch well into the evening, opening space for unhurried exploration—from calm paddles on Morfee and Gantahaz lakes to downhill rides on Morfee Mountain, and hikes that climb to high ridges and rushing waterfalls.
BC’s “Energetic City” lives up to its name with endless opportunities for recreation, a thriving arts and culture scene, fantastic amenities, and an ideal location for exploring the surrounding and spectacular Peace River region.
There’s much more to Dawson Creek than just the start of the world-famous Alaska Highway. Before you head north, tack on a few extra days and visit museums and heritage sites, walk forested trails, take in BC’s only commercial wind farm, and enjoy the Peace River’s spectacular beauty.
In BC’s northeast, the beers are flowing. The region is home to a rapidly growing brewery scene, one that’s been stoked and cultivated by passionate locals with a true love of craft beer. Here, taprooms serve up consciously-crafted beers made with locally-sourced hops, grains, honey and berries from the surrounding Peace Region—making these beers a true taste of the North.
There is an entire corner of British Columbia that is full of wide-open roads, adventure, and never-ending wildlife sightings: Northeast BC.
Fall in BC’s Northeast region is fleeting, but no less spectacular. The late Autumn sun sets the region’s rolling fields of wheat ablaze in a brilliant flash of gold while stands of quaking aspen explode in their final burst of glory before the seasons turn, turning shades of deep, golden yellow.
Located near one of the Alaska Highway’s most historic point’s of interest, Kistkatinaw Provincial Park offers travellers a 28 unit campground nestled in the trees above the Kiskatinaw River.
Situated on the southwestern shore of Charlie Lake, the campground sits in a beautiful large aspen stand teeming with song birds – typical to the North Peace region.
A long-time favourite amongst locals, Tetsa River Regional Park is a spacious campground on the doorstep of the Northern Rocky Mountains.
The Northern Rockies play host to some of the most scenic and easily accessible hiking trails along the entire historical route. Travelling north from the town of Fort Nelson, the highway ascends into the high alpine wilderness of the northern Rocky Mountains at Steamboat Mountain – roughly 45 minutes away.
If you are seeking adventure along the Alaska Highway, there is perhaps no better place to set up camp, then Stone Mountain Provincial Park.
One of the Alaska Highway’s most beloved stop-overs, Muncho Lake Provincial Park is an outdoor paradise.
The Alaska Highway is well regarded as one of North America’s great adventure routes. An ‘Into the Wild’ type of journey that tugs at the wildest heart strings of those that travel the historic route each year.
Despite the struggles of this cold, and sometimes unforgiving season, here along the Alaska Highway, life has a way of carrying on. We like to think that when the going gets tough, the tough get going…
As we come to the close of yet another busy Summer along the Alaska Highway, it is hard not to feel as though time is moving all too fast here in the north. With an adventure log chalked full of new memories, highway travellers have since made their way home to prepare for the familiar routines of September.
During your Alaska Highway road trip, be sure to stop in at the Visitor Centers for towns in Northern BC:
It’s doubtful the men who built the Alaska Highway realized they were clearing a future path to one of the world’s greatest hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing adventure zones.
Constructing the Alaska Highway in 1942 to defend against Japanese attack, workers (mostly the US Army) also faced the possibility of surprise encounters with angry or unfriendly grizzlies, black bears, wolves, wolverines, lynx, moose and elk. In spite of an often-hostile environment and tremendous construction challenges, the highway was finished in less than a year, and further invasion of North America was prevented.
If you’re travelling the Alaska Highway north through Canada en route to Alaska, you’ll see the imposing front ranges of the Canadian Rocky Mountains to the west soon after setting out from Mile “0” at Dawson Creek.
According to the travel experts, “Charlie Lake is THE lake in Fort St. John. Archaeologists have recorded human activity in the caves surrounding (it) dating back 11,000 years…” (ehcanadatravel.com)
At Mile 35 of the Alaska Highway in Taylor, BC, you’ll find beautiful Peace Island Park. If you’re camping, it’s a perfect location to pitch your tent. If you’re driving an RV, park here for the night and relax.
Explore the awesome power of a well-engineered hydro dam. The Peace Canyon Dam is the smaller of two hydroelectric dams on this part of the mighty and beautiful Peace River in northern BC. It’s a few kilometres southwest of one of British Columbia’s oldest settlements, Hudson’s Hope, and 23 km downstream from the larger, more powerful W.A.C. Bennett Dam.
Before beginning your Alaska Highway road trip, get some pre-drive hiking and biking exercise! It’s a one hour, ten-minute drive west on Highway 97 from Dawson Creek to Chetwynd, British Columbia. You’ll need to return to Dawson Creek to begin your Alaska Highway road trip, but Chetwynd, British Columbia is worth a visit for its outstanding network of hiking and biking trails. You can get some exercise there before you start your Alaska Highway drive.
It’s described in visitors’ posts on TripAdvisor and elsewhere as one of the most spectacular waterfalls in North America. At 197 feet (60 metres), it’s slightly higher than Niagara Falls (although with a lower volume of water flowing through).
When visiting Dawson Creek, take a side trip and see the first curved wooden bridge built in Canada (few remain today).
If you’re driving to Mile Zero in Dawson Creek to begin your Alaska Highway road trip, chances are you’ll pass through the self-proclaimed “Pioneer Capital of Peace Country,” Pouce Coupe.
It’s awe-inspiring to witness the winter dance of the Northern Lights in jet black skies above the northern wilds of the Alaska Highway.
During the winter, snowmobiling is a great way to see the Alaska Highway backcountry. One of the best places to go is the wilderness near Fort St. John, in Northern BC, Canada. Fans of the area say it was made for snowmobiling.
After you drive west out of Fort Nelson and begin to enter the BC Northern Rockies, the roadside scenery becomes spectacular.
The old Dawson Creek Train Station now houses the South Peace Historical Society Railway Station Museum and the Dawson Creek Visitor Centre. Situated within Northern Alberta Railway Park, the train station has been retrofitted to more or less assume the personality it exhibited at its inception in 1931, shortly after it became the western terminus of Northern Alberta Railway in 1930.
Watch for these animals near the Alaska Highway as you drive it
Black Bear – Medium-sized, this is the world’s most common bear
Grizzly Bear – Male grizzlies can weigh 800 lbs and have four-inch front claws
Caribou (Woodland) – These are the largest caribous, and dark in colour…
“Too freaking fun to miss!
It looks like a smaller attraction then you go in…
Signs from all over the world and…Canada
And some that will just make you laugh because they should not be allowed to have street signs named like that.
Do this. You’ll just feel silly and whimsical and then you’ll think of what sign you can ‘steal’ or call it ‘borrow’ to bring here.
Largest collection of stolen goods on public display – according to Guinness Records.”
Alaska Highway Fishing. You won’t be on the Alaska Highway for long before you realize you’re driving through fishing heaven. That’s because you’ll quickly see a lot of fantastic fishing spots from behind the wheel of your automobile!
The Alaska Highway turns 75 next year. If you’re driving it around New Year’s next January – or any time during the winter months of the Anniversary year – get ready to see some amazing Northern Lights.
As you begin your Alaska Highway road trip through BC and the Yukon and across the U.S. border, make sure you stop at the steamy Liard River Hot Springs. It’s at mile 475 (km 765) between Fort Nelson, BC and Watson Lake, Yukon.
It’s one thing to look at other people’s photos of the Northern Lights, shot along the Alaska Highway. It’s another, entirely, to experience the Aurora Borealis yourself – and photograph the neon swirls – as they race across the sky at night, several miles above you. It’s an exhilarating experience you’ll never forget.
Travel northwest from Whitehorse through rugged Gold Rush country, cross the US border and go deep into the Alaskan Interior. Here, a serene, sub-Arctic plateau is flanked by two massive mountain ranges to the north (the Brooks Range) and south (the Alaska Range).
Museums, galleries and entertainment along the Alaska Highway will take you back in time to the Ice Age, the Gold Rush and World War II.
If seeing wildlife is an important part of your Alaska Highway journey, the best thing you can do is plan to see wildlife!
Watson Lake, Yukon is a good place to get lost. There’s plenty of signage. In the Signpost Forest, visitors have contributed almost 80,000 signs pointing to their home towns.
Every community on the Alaska Highway is unique and well worth a visit. Here’s an overview of the cities and towns on your road trip.
Welcome to the top of the World. During your Alaska Highway roadtrip, you can try dog sledding, panning for gold, ice fishing, bear hunting, flightseeing, heli-hiking and/or touring glaciers.
Dawson Creek, BC is a place of anticipation and excitement. This is where RVs gather and set off north in convoys. And it’s where you’ll hear the thunderous rumble of motorcycles readying for the 1,500-mile journey up the Alaska Highway.
BC’s untamed Muskwa-Kechika is the size of Ireland, with unnamed 1,000-foot waterfalls. Kluane and Denali, in the Yukon and Alaska, are home to the two highest North American peaks.
This “municipality” is an enormous slice of spectacular British Columbia (BC) – about 10% of it, in fact – BC being a large province in the world’s second largest country.
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