A Prince Rupert Road Trip

Day One

My alarm went off at 0430, abruptly disrupting my short but great sleep. It wasn’t hard to get up because I was excited for the mini trip to Prince Rupert. Even better still, my mom and one of my younger sisters were coming with me.

The drive from Prince George to Prince Rupert is about an eight-hour drive one-way and non stop. Usually, when I go on road trips they wind up being longer due to me wanting to stop and take pictures, or going for short hikes along the way.

My sister, mom and I had a snack and packed our bags into the truck and we headed out west at 0530. Most of the four-hour drive from Prince George to Smithers was in the dark. Just as we got into Smithers the sun had risen in the bright blue sky, which happened to be around 0900. We drove to Twin Falls Recreation Site just outside of Smithers. When we got to the parking lot of the recreation site, we made our way to the viewing platform. The trek was short, uphill and a bit snowy and once at the viewpoint two waterfalls are visible. Due to it being December and below freezing they were frozen, but they still looked superb with the backdrop of a mountain behind them. I can’t wait to go back and see these falls during the spring run off.

When we got back to the truck, I realized one of the tires was dangerously low on air. My mom called my dad and she was worried it might have a hole in it. Luckily, it turned out that my dad didn’t put the right cover on the air valve and it was slowly leaking air on the drive. We rushed to a gas station, put air in the tire and made sure each one of them was at the right psi. Topping up our gas in Smithers, we left and continued our route to the next stop; Morricetown. It is a lovely and very small reserve, half an hour west of Smithers. It’s well known for Morricetown Canyon, which the Bulkley River flows through. The canyon is quite a site in any season, especially during spring when water levels are high. The locals fish right on the edge of the canyon with nets and it is quite a neat site to see.

            

We hopped into the truck and the three of us drove to our third stop on the long but beautiful drive to New Hazelton. This little town has quite the commanding mountain right beside it. The most prominent mountain of this small range is named Hagwiglet Peak. If you like mountains, you’d appreciate the majesty of this one. We arrived in this town at the perfect time as I was able to catch first light on a couple of the mountain peaks and it was enchanting.

When I was done taking photos of those peaks and the perfect light, all of us continued on the journey. Just before we got to Terrace, we stopped in the tiniest town on the side of the highway named Usk. There is a cute little church on the side of the highway and it is pretty hard to miss. The church is aptly named Usk Pioneer Church and after we visited the church we made our way to Terrace. Nestled in the beautiful coast mountains of the north, the city is quite picturesque. All of us ate lunch there, and headed further west towards Prince Rupert for the last hour and a half of the drive.

The drive between Terrace and Prince Rupert is said to be one of the most gorgeous drives in the world. The road twists and winds around the north coast mountains and the mighty Skeena River, leaving travellers breathless at every turn. All of the evergreens were covered in a blanket of snow. Getting closer and closer to our final destination; Prince Rupert - I noticed the rest stop Telegraph Point. I had to pull into the rest stop because the light coming through the clouds was hitting the river and the mountain flawlessly. Thank goodness my mom and sister are patient! Shortly after we had left the rest stop the clouds started to get more ominous and very dark. Not long after we got close to those nasty clouds it started to dump snow on us and it snowed the rest of the way to Prince Rupert. Visibility sucked, and the snow accumulated quickly. There was a couple of inches of snow on the ground well before we got into Prince Rupert. Thank goodness for great tires and four-wheel drive! When we checked into the hotel and got settled in, the clouds started to clear and a bright crescent moon glowed in the starry night sky, it was a great way to end the long day.

Day Two

My mom, sister and I woke up at around 0800 in the wonderful Crest Hotel, that has some beautiful mountain and ocean views. Prince Rupert is such a quaint and beautiful city on Kaien Island in the mountains to visit. The three of us lucked out with some pretty great weather for our trip. Day two was a cool -15 degrees and the sky was crystal clear as far as the eye could see.

The three of us decided to go out and get breakfast at a local restaurant. I googled places that were open and we decided to go to Smileys Seafood Restaurant. My mom had a classic eggs benny with homemade hollandaise sauce, my sister had sausages and a waffle and I had a classic breakfast with eggs, toast, bacon and sausage. Everything was very delicious and the customer service was wonderful.

There are a few local shops worth checking out on the waterfront, but keep in mind, lots of places are closed on Mondays. We fuelled up in Prince Rupert then went on our way to head east again. I wanted to do a bit of a hike before we left town, and I had to convince my mom and sister to participate. I thought it would be a good idea to get a stretch before the long drive home again. We decided to hike to the Butze Rapids viewpoint on the Butze Rapids Interpretive Trail. It had snowed the night before, and the trail to the rapids was a winter wonderland. A forest of Cedar, Sitka Spruce, and Silver Fir to name a few, were covered in a fresh dump of snow. Parts of the trail were a bit hilly but nothing too strenuous. It is definitely a family friendly trail. The Butze Rapids Viewpoint was impressive. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see the rapids in full force, due to bad high/low tide timing, but it was still quite a remarkable site. Snow covered trees and lovely reflections on the ocean made the trek worthwhile.

Like I said earlier, the drive from Prince Rupert to Terrace is absolutely breathtaking. Driving through the snow capped coastal mountains in the north as a backdrop, easily makes the drive amazing, including the Skeena River that flows alongside the highway. I had to stop at a few spots along the way to take some pictures of the stretch of highway and one place in particular was Exchamsiks River Provincial Park. I don’t know why I decided to stop there but I knew I had to pull in and check it out; I am glad I did. The river was so still and calm that the reflections were amazing. I took a fair amount of pictures before continuing back on the road to go home.

When we got into Terrace we were starving and had to stop for lunch, so we opted for classic and quick Subway. Having finished lunch, we left Terrace headed east towards Smithers and onto Prince George.

Half an hour outside of Terrace, the sun began to set behind the mountains. My fingers were crossed hoping for a good spot to stop and take some photos of the sunset. I was starting to lose hope, when I suddenly saw a forestry service road to the left of the highway that led across the Skeena River, and guess what? It had a stellar view of the mountain sunset! Not thinking ahead and just too stoked for the sunset, I got out of the truck with my camera and ran to the bridge. Unbeknownst to me, the wind was howling through the river valley and I seriously thought my fingers were going to freeze off. It had to be below -30 degrees with the wind chill. It was cold since I only had a thin long sleeve plaid shirt on for warmth. My mom ran out and gave me my tripod before running back into the warmth of the truck. I didn’t blame her; the wind chill wasn’t that fun. I basically turned into an icicle, due to the freezing cold, while taking those epic sunset shots. We left the Skeena FSR and continued driving towards home. I had hurried back into the truck to thaw. The rest of the drive was uneventful as it was spent in the vast darkness of Northern BC.

I highly recommend this drive to anyone and everyone in any season, especially if you love the outdoors and nature as much as I do.

*I would like to thank Tourism Prince George for giving me the gift certificate for a one night hotel stay at the Crest Hotel. It made this awesome trip happen.