BC Routes

Remember, border crossings can take over one hour just south of Vancouver at Blaine. Travel east 1/2 hour and the time cuts in half; travel east another 1/2 hour and times rarely exceed 15 minutes.

If near Vancouver, travel north to the province's interior on route 99, the Whistler road. En route to Whistler the road has been straightened quite a bit over the 35 years I have been driving it, but the fine, fjord like views up Howe Sound, several waterfalls en route (don't miss Shannon Falls, right beside the road about two miles past the Furry Creek golf course), and some spectacular peaks. The big wall at Stawamus Chief offers some fairly aggressive, vertical/overhanging, "hiking" if you are equipped with bivouac gear - otherwise just watch! (I am afraid my attempt at humour may be lost due to email - Stawamus Chief is world renowned for technical climbing on excellent rock - some routes are as tough as you will find anywhere); Diamond Head, looming over Squamish on the way north, Black Tusk and the Barrier, both about 15 miles south of Whistler are photo opportunities; as you enter Cheakamus Canyon, about 15 minutes north of Squamish, pull over into a lookout and look south over your left shoulder for one of the great mountain scapes available anywhere, probably elevate the road to about a 7 out of 10. Beyond Whistler, en route to Pemberton, the road tightens and enforcement drops enough to rate the route about an 8. Pemberton to Lilloet begins with a languid journey through the flat, valley bottom of Mt. Currie but then it rises up toward Duffy Lake and becomes one of the great m/c roads of British Columbia. Lots of sport bikes and some fishermen and sightseers require a certain caution, but the road offers wonderful twisties and great mountain views that can be enjoyed by all.

There are about 8 wooden bridges. Some seem to have something on them that makes them a bit stickier than in the old days but, still, remember the cardinal rules of wooden bridges - no banking and no braking!

An alternative route to Lillooet is the West Side Harrison road, which connects Harrison Mills to Lilloet. 171 km, 5 hours, with 2 1/2 of those hours spent on 6 miles near the middle. The rest is basically unpaved haul road in good condition. Remote, and spectacular views, but this is an area of high peaks with steep sides so they will trap the weather. I have been in warm sunshine at the northern and southern ends of the road with electrical storms and sheets of rain in the middle. If you are on an oilhead and it is raining, be sure you know what you are doing before attempting the middle 6 miles. I saw several ATV's and a heavily modified jeep 4x4, but no ordinary SUV's in this section, while a 2wd sedan could traverse the rest of it. I broke a sub frame, windshield, driving light, bent an engine guard, and severely damaged one ego (but that was fairly fragile to begin with.)

Two critical warnings:

1. The West Side Harrison road, and many other gravel roads in B.C. were built for forestry and mineral access. We call them haul roads, because they are often used to haul loads of logs. The rigs can almost block the road, take a long time to stop, and go fast. Speeds of 50-60 mph are normal. From Sunday evening to Friday afternoon, logging trucks are big hazard, and should not be underestimated.

2. Logging roads are often built to access particular cutting areas and are not always reliably mapped or maintained. Try to stay on the main haul roads, though that is not always easy. A GPS can help. As you begin to return to pavement, you will begin to see small square black on yellow or orange signs mounted 10-15 feet up a tree beside the road. These are marking the number of kilometers remaining to pavement.

From Pemberton, an alternative route north is to traverse the Pemberton Meadows, a lovely valley of mainly potato farms framed by high peaks, and cross the Hurley Pass. En route, you could inquire whether the hot springs at Meager Creek are open. Its been a few years since I drove the Hurley, but I remember it as a reasonably good gravel road with a few boulders here and there but passable by 2wd car. An SUV would be better though. The Hurley Pass offers a gravel route to the old mining towns of Bralorne and Gold River eventually arriving at Lillooet.

Draw a line from Lillooet to Clinton and up to Williams Lake. From that line west to maybe Taseko Lake is the South Chilcotin Plateau. Absolutely fabulous GS country. Almost no pavement in that entire area. For openers, try the Pavilion to Kelly Lake Road, then take the Meadow Lake Road to Big Bar Creek (you will cross the Frazer on the suspension bridge at Churn Creek, look left at the mist rising from the beginning of the Fraser River Canyon), drive up through the Gang Ranch to Junction (North America's largest mountain sheep preserve) and Farwall Canyon. Cross the river at Farwall (just east of the canyon). Indians dip net for salmon from those big rocks either side of the bridge in August. From Farwall, its about 18-20 miles back to pavement at Riske Creek. Turn right to return to Williams Lake or turn left and take Hwy 20 to Bella Coola. Many roads lead south from Hwy 20 to give access to the Plateau. The road to Eagle Lake has nice twisties and Tatlayoko Lake offers access to some pretty ranch country.

Remember, when you cross cattle guards, there is a good chance you are entering open range country so beware of steers. Deer are everywhere, so keep speeds under control. Bears are common, but you will mainly encounter black bear juveniles. Not too dangerous if you keep a healthy distance. Beware cubs b/c the sow is around somewhere and can be very dangerous, even with black bears. As you travel west into the high mountains, you are getting into prime grizzly country. They are a different world entirely and can be unpredictable and lethal. Keep your distance, and practise bear-wise camping. (Wash plates after dinner, clean up after BBQ, no food left in camp, use bear bags, although I prefer to buy every day what I am going to eat that night and then eat it all.)

For a first visit, the roads marked on the AAA map offer a good overview. For more detailed exploration, use the BC Recreational Atlas or the appropriate volume (I think its #4, but check,) of the 6 volume set, "Backyard and Outdoor Adventure Mapbook", published by Mussio Ventures. (We could not find "Backyard and Outdoor Adventure Mapbook" book on this web site, but there are a lot of mapbooks at Mussio. Grant)

A word about road conditions:

The roads marked unpaved, good gravel are like haul roads and not too difficult. If the route is marked "rough", like say Chilko Lake to Nemaiah Valley (quite beautiful, by the way), that middle stretch of West Side Harrison Road, or some of the rough roads that just end so you have to turn back, you should be equipped for flats and probably travel with a buddy. The ranch trucks all carry extra tires in anticipation of flats.