Plan adventurous road trip in your backyard with rich history, cowboy culture and abundant outdoor activities

Photo: Blake Jorgenson

Ghost Lake, near Likely, B.C.

When you venture to B.C.’s Land Without Limits, you’ll realize you’re not only making discoveries within yourself, but along every roadway, pathway, trailway and waterway. You have a lot of ground to cover, but expect wide-open spaces with room to roam.

A Cariboo Chilcotin weekend getaway or road trip itinerary should include some or all of these rewarding activities and sites, where rejuvenation of spirit happens effortlessly, and you’ll meet people who are generous of heart.

Situated in B.C.’s Central Interior from the Rocky and Cariboo Mountains west to the Great Bear Rainforest of the Pacific Coast, this region of untamed land and physical riches is an outdoor treasure trove.

“We’re blessed to have the Great Bear Rainforest in the region (one of B.C.'s Top 10 Natural Wonders),” says Amy Thacker, CEO of Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism.

“Plus, the salt water, where you can go prawning or crabbing or sit in a natural hot spring and look out over the inlet and the Pacific Ocean and up at the Coastal mountains.”

Photo: Cariboo Chilcotin Coast Tourism

The Pantheon Range of the Coast Mountains

Feel the freedom and rush of a gallop across alpine meadows, and later tour the community’s byways and stop along the way for local fare and handcrafted goods. Discover natural wonders with ecotours and guided wildlife excursions.

Keep watch for bears (Kermode bear, too), wild mustangs, California Bighorn Sheep, wolves and mountain caribou, along with dolphins and whales in coves, inlets and ocean fjords along the coast. Cast your line in rivers and more than 8,000 lakes, concentrating along B.C.’s Fishing Highway 24, for bountiful catches of lake trout, kokanee, rainbow trout, brook trout and burbot or try your hand at ocean fishing for halibut, salmon, lingcod and shellfish.

Whether hiking or mountain biking (coined Canada's unofficial mountain biking capital) or while enjoying lake activities like kayaking, rafting or canoeing, the landscape’s kaleidoscope of contrasts will unfold before you.

The old Cariboo Wagon Road tracks through the heart of the lush Cariboo and maintains the Gold Rush historical account. Visit Barkerville Historic Town & Park, where the Cariboo Gold Rush is re-created in 1860s detail, just one of many family adventures of national historical sites that reimagine the past.

Photo: Thomas Drasdauskis

Barkerville Historic Town & Park

“The Gold Rush Trail has long been one of our family-friendly trips because of the connection to learning opportunities, whether our heritage sites, Indigenous cultural sites, and multicultural history of the corridor expressed in our rural communities,” Thacker says.

You'll experience both grassy plateaus, glacier-fed lakes and semi-arid desert in the Chilcotin, where Indigenous peoples’ culture is strong—and ranches and cowboy culture run deep.

Learn the ways of the Wild West first-hand and experience a guest ranch vacation, from cozy cabins and lodge rentals to rustic wilderness resorts.

“Whether you choose a luxury all-inclusive experience or bed down under the stars at a working cowboy ranch, cowboy culture is a huge part of our region,” Thacker says. “There’s a lot of tradition that remains true to those roots.”

Indulge in cowboy excitement at Williams Lake Stampede in July, a sanctioned pro rodeo event.

To reach the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast from Kelowna, take Highway 97C, Highway 5 through Kamloops and Highway 1 to Cache Creek.

For more information, visit landwithoutlimits.com.

This article is written by or on behalf of the sponsoring client and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.