When my sister moved from Kelowna to Prince George I was devastated! Who moves to Prince George, is there even a Starbucks up there? I had a very uneducated reaction and inexperienced opinion of what it was like to live in our northern BC communities. So we bought a 1989 24 foot trailer, named her “Taylor”, and headed out to explore this territory that was so unknown to us.
I had many questions about the Cariboo region now that I had an invested reason to go there. What brings people there, what do they do for work, what is there to do for fun when it’s too cold to go outside? Why do people call it northern BC when it’s actually the middle? Would I visit this town and these communities if I didn’t have a family reason to go?
If you’ve been following us @loewenlifestyle on Instagram for a while, you might have journeyed with us as we hit the road on this adventure. We decided we would break up the nine hour drive from Kelowna to PG by stopping to stay a night every 2-3 hours. This would give us more time to absorb nature a little bit more. As soon as we passed Clinton, B.C. we were all as far north in BC as we had ever been.
Our first stop was Shuswap Provincial Park, a great campground for bike lovers. It’s huge so bikes are a nice way to get from your site to the beach. There’s even a kids bike park, but make sure you don’t forget the mosquito spray if visiting in spring or early summer!
Our next stop was Green Lake Provincial Park where I noticed the biggest change in vegetation. We left the dry pines of the Okanagan and traded them in for brilliant birch trees and fields full of wildflowers.
On our way to our next stop, Quesnel, we happened upon a beautiful fishing lake off the highway in Williams Lake. A beautiful dock for casting a line, having a sandwich or grabbing a pretty photo.
Pinnacles Provincial Park is a must stop on the route to Prince George. The ‘hoodoo’ formations had us in awe but it was difficult to decide where exactly to feast your eyes. The mountains and valleys at this park are spectacular. Natural sights like these answered my questions about the draw to this region and I was beginning to realize that this was just the beginning.
Finally, we arrived in Prince George and I was amazed by the intimacy between the thick sub- boreal forest and the town itself. The population is around 75,000 inhabitants so you can imagine that they have quite an established town. Prince George has a beautiful university, parks and neighborhoods as well as Winners, Home Sense, and, yes, they have Starbucks. Yet anytime your eyes leave the infrastructure of the town, you’ll see the forest. It’s like you’re completely surrounded by a bear hug of thick trees. In an apocalypse, nature would surely take this town over in a very short amount of time.
In the Okanagan, when you look into a forest of ponderosa pines, you can generally see quite far ahead of you. The dryness only allows for a certain type of brush that I’ve been accustomed to all my life. I never understood how one could get lost in a forest until I looked into the dense darkness of Prince George’s vegetation.
Suddenly I had more questions about this area than I did before. Isn’t that the progression of experiential education? The more you learn about something the more you realize you have so much to learn!
Prince George is a rapidly growing town. In 2019, Western Investor stated that the second best city after Kelowna to invest in real estate was Prince George. This has made it an interesting region to follow. Since then, the housing market and lot prices have indeed gone up substantially as the population of students and young families continues to grow. Indeed, the reasons for this migration have a lot to do with opportunity and also with the beauty of this area.
Begin at the visitor center where you can borrow bikes and helmets for the day or fishing gear for a couple of days, all for free. The visitor center is all about helping you find that priceless memory in nature. The 30 km Centennial Trail is a perfect place to walk, bike, or jog past the University of Northern British Columbia, through neighborhoods, and past luscious forests.
Stocked with rainbow trout, West Lake is the place to head with your borrowed fishing gear. The provincial park here has opportunities to hike, have a fire, enjoy a picnic, swim, or have a game of horseshoes. You’ll also find this to be an idyllic spot for snowshoeing and tobogganing in the winter.
If you’re looking to support local, handmade goods, check out the Saturday Farmer’s Market. Here you’ll find one of our favourite kids brands, Tait’s Attire. Emily, owner of the brand named for her daughter, Taitum, is a Kelowna original who moved to PG and set out to fill the gap she found in stylish and eco-conscious kid’s clothing. Her designs are all handmade to be durable, soft, and trendy. You can also shop them online.
Other fun retail adventures can be found downtown but what we really came here for was nature. Approx 115 km east of PG is the world’s only temperate inland rainforest where cedars over 1000 years old have given it its name, The Ancient Forest.
Behemoth western red cedars are so big here, they have names. A stunning, all-access boardwalk provides half a kilometer of blissful foliage. Several trails are available that range from 20-90 minutes and bring you to places like Tree Beard Falls.
There’s so much more I could say about the beauty of Prince George but I think you should see it for yourself! And, although I miss my sister to no end, I see now why she loves her community and her town. With endless opportunities for outdoor adventure, surrounded by nature, and enveloped in a tight knit community, this is an area of BC I’m glad we got to experience, and we’ll be back!
What’s next for The BC Bucket List Family? Follow us @loewenlifestyle to journey with us to Fort Langley!
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