Canada’s most westerly province, British Columbia is huge and diverse. If you love the
great outdoors, you will never be bored in a province that is so beautiful, with such variation, and with so many opportunities for
hiking,
rafting,
sailing and
skiing, to name just a few.
British Columbia is studded with breathtakingly beautiful,
snow-capped mountains that puncture vast, blue skies. You will also find long stretches of rugged
coastline, sandy
beaches,
wineries,
orchards,
forests and snowmelt-fed
lakes that glisten with an intense hue. There is even Canada’s only
desert: Osoyoos, in the southern Okanagan, which is home to rattlesnakes, scorpions and prickly pear cacti. If you are seeking
unspoiled wilderness, then British Columbia is the perfect province to lose yourself in.
If you want company, however, there are plenty of modern and
lively cities and towns in British Columbia.
Vancouver has scores of galleries, museums and bars. But even in Vancouver you are never too removed from nature: the city contains Canada’s largest city park, Stanley Park.
With nine
national parks and numerous provincial parks, British Columbia is renowned more for its nature than its urban settings. From
kayaking with whales off the coast to driving down a highway flanked by mountains, British Columbia will enchant you.
GeographyBritish Columbia is Canada’s most westerly province, bordered to the south by the USA (Washington, Idaho and Montana states), to the east by Alberta, to the north by the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean and the ‘Alaska Panhandle’. It is mainly covered by virgin forests, and encompasses the towering Rocky Mountains (rising to 3,954m/12,972ft), vast expanses of semi-arid sagebrush, lush pastures on Vancouver Island’s east coast, farmland in the Fraser River delta, and fruitland in the Okanagan Valley. The highest mountain is Fairweather at 4,663m (15,298ft). Between the eastern and coastal mountains is a lower central range. The coastal range sinks into the Pacific, with larger peaks emerging at Vancouver and Queen Charlotte islands. The Columbia River flows from the Rockies into Washington State and out into the Pacific Ocean.
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