Howe Sound
Head to the ferry dock (tel. 1 250 386 3431 or 888 223 3779) and back to the mainland for an excursion among glaciers. Disembark at Horseshoe Bay, turn north, and follow the coast road along spectacular Howe Sound, one of British Columbia’s trademark fjords. The glaciers that carved this narrow channel also smoothed the rocks on both sides, exposing valuable ore near Britannia. The copper mine here once employed 60,000 people and turned out over 50 million tons of concentrate. Now it houses the B.C. Museum of Mining (Britannia Beach; tel. 1 604 896 4044; fee).

Shannon Falls Provincial Park
A few miles (five kilometers) farther, at Shannon Falls Provincial Park (tel. 1 604 986 9371), walk the short trail to British Columbia’s third highest waterfall (1,100 feet/335 meters). The lookout point is set among tall cedar and fir, which seem big enough except for the huge stumps that tell of even greater giants that once grew here.

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Jazz Fest

$65.00 / day $160.00 / 3 days

Entertainment

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Summer activities in Whistler

Jeep Tour ATV Tours Cannoeing Gondola

Thing to Do

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Drive to Permberton

Thing to Do

Notes

Leaving Whistler, the highway drops scenically toward Pemberton. Take the trail at Nairn Falls Provincial Park to where the Green River’s glacial waters explode through a narrow canyon. The road lingers in the relative openness of the Pemberton Valley, then begins an ear-popping climb to Duffey Lake Pass. At Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, take a five-minute walk through the cool forest to Lower Joffre Lake and, if you continue down a steep path, thundering views of the Matier Glacier and surrounding peaks. Then it’s down and down as the road plummets to the valley of the Fraser River.

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Lillooet

City

Notes

Occupying flat benches above the river, Lillooet was the largest city north of San Francisco and west of Chicago in 1860, with nearly 16,000 miners searching for gold. For a short time, Lillooet marked Mile Zero of the original Cariboo Wagon Road, commemorated now by a cairn on Main Street. At the Lillooet Museum and Visitor Center (790 Main St.; tel. 1 250 256 4308), ask for information on visiting gold rush landmarks, like the historic "Hangman’s Tree" on the hill above town, and the neatly "Chinese pilings" left by Chinese miners who created the piles to avoid reprocessing.

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Thompson River Valley

Thing to Do

Notes

Highway 99 crosses the mighty Fraser, then rolls through dry grassy hills to the Thompson River Valley. This is Canada’s dry belt, the parched interior, where summer temperatures rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). About seven miles (11 kilometers) north of Cache Creek, Historic Hat Creek Ranch (tel. 1 250 457 9722 or 800 782 0922; fee) was once a roadhouse and supply point on the Cariboo Wagon Road. Hop on the restored stagecoach for a ride around the grounds, which include a traditional Shuswap native winter home and the original log cabin that grew into a two-story rambling and ramshackle hotel.

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Cache Creek, BC

Cache Creek Bed and Breakfast 1387 Quartz Road | PO Box 129, Cache Creek, British Columbia V0K 1H0, Canada

Hotel

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Unscheduled - Vancouver

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Holiday Inn Express Vancouver

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The Holiday Inn Express Vancouver is located minutes from Downtown Vancouver and Downtown Burnaby. Pacific National …

Hotel

2889 E Hastings St
Vancouver, BC V5K
Canada
604-254-1000

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Vancouver

Average Rating (101):

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City

Vancouver, BC, Canada

Notes

Capilano Canyon
Take Highway 99 across the Lions Gate Bridge to North Vancouver and Capilano Canyon, where the Grouse Mountain Skyride (tel. 1 604 980 9311; fee) climbs almost 3,000 vertical feet (914 meters) to a view of city and inlet. To stay closer to sea level, follow Marine Drive west to Lighthouse Park. Established in 1881 as a lighthouse reserve, it contains a remnant stand of old-growth Douglas-fir. Trails lead through the cathedral-like shadows of the ancient cedar and fir trees to the lighthouse on a rocky shoreline.

Ferry to Victoria
Drive south on Highway 99 to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal (tel. 1 604 943 9331) and take passage to Victoria. Crossing the Strait of Georgia, you realize that for all its water, Vancouver is not an oceanfront city. It stands protected by numerous small islands and one very large one: Vancouver Island itself. An hour into the passage, a long chain of snowcapped peaks comes into view: the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. The white dome to the east is Mount Baker, also in Washington. The ferry docks at Swartz Bay, and you make your entry to Victoria by driving south on Highway 17 to the southeastern tip of Vancouver Island.

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