The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast is one of Canada’s most diverse geographical regions for adventurous families looking to unplug.
When you immerse yourself and your kids in active adventures like watching grizzlies, horseback riding through the bush or soaring past a glacier field in a flightseeing plane, screen time is replaced with real time.
Several of North America’s finest wilderness lodges await you. Echo Valley Ranch & Spa offers a sublime fusion of East-meets-West aesthetics. Tweedsmuir Park Lodge enwraps guests in a mountain setting. Maple Leaf Adventures embarks with three distinct vessels, a sailboat, catamaran and converted tug.
The Great Bear Rainforest is home territory for many of Canada’s most spectacular species, including bald eagles, orca whales, grizzly and black bears, sea otters and salmon. This environment is also habitat for the Kermode or “Spirit” bear, the black bear with white fur. First Nation elders often share their cultural history here, a profound opportunity for every family member to embrace the calm and nourishment inherent in the natural world.
Barkerville Historic Town & Park
Everyone loves walking onto a movie set, but you’ll discover much more than facades in Barkerville. Barkerville’s 135 restored buildings comprise the largest western historic site in North America. Living history, from Chinatown to the character-actors who operate the stores and walk the streets, is on full display.
Horse Packing and Dude Ranches
You can saddle up for western adventures throughout the region. Bracewell’s Alpine Wilderness Adventures takes guests to the mountain top, where they bunk in a custom, two-storey cabin. At Siwash Lake Wilderness Lodge, guests can care for their horse, from grooming and saddling to western riding skills instruction. Rodeo is a regional tradition, including the annual Williams Lake Stampede, along with plenty of smaller rodeos throughout the summer.
Taking Flight
The Cariboo Chilcotin Coast region is massive in every direction. Cariboo Air is one of several services that will fly your family to 463-foot Helmcken Falls, along the Fraser River Canyon and above the Horsefly Fjord lakes, among other destinations. Tweedsmuir Air will wing you over the Chilcotin plateau to the snow-capped Coast Mountains.
Paddling Bowron Lake
The 72-mile Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit represents the ultimate adventure for a family of paddling enthusiasts. Families may also choose to camp in Bowron Lake Provincial Park and embark upon smaller day paddles beneath the Cariboo Mountains or take the shorter 2-4 day west circuit. Two outfitters, Pathways and Sea to Sky Expeditions, guide individuals, families and groups on the circuit.
The family road trip is alive and well in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, where families often follow the Gold Rush Trail with its fantastic mountain passes, dense forest segments and broad grasslands. When it comes to this region, whether by car or RV, the journey forms an integral part of the holiday.
BC’s land without limits awaits your adventurous family in the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.
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