May 31, 2011 | Tips from Travellers >
Chetwynd, Sightseeing Tours
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The time was right. The roads were clear and I got to do a road trip from Hudson’s Hope to Prince George. It was so nice to see the soft green of growth in the valleys. As I rounded that last corner to Chetwynd, the valley opened up to show me Chetwynd nestled in the valley with the Rockies as a back drop. I stopped in at the visitor centre as there is quite a collection of chainsaw carvings just out front. I found out there is a walking trail that takes you all over town as the carvings are scattered all over town. Check them out! Then off to the mountains I headed. There is a nice rest area close to Pine Lemoray Provincial Park. It was a beautiful warm 24 degrees but still the snow was heavy on the mountains looming so close, you felt like you could touch them. Everyone at the stop was friendly and smiling; the surroundings and heat made it so. I ventured in to see Heart Lake and was amazed to see it was still frozen but a reminder that it was still early spring. Not far down the road you are viewing Azouzetta Lake, looks like a nice campground there, and then just pass Powder King Ski Hill, you reach the summit of the Pine pass at 933 metres. Water was running off the mountains and created numerous water falls , cascading off the rocks along the highway. I knew my next stop would be to pull in to Bijoux Falls, where you can park, meet fellow travelers, cheep with the cheeky well fed Stellar Jays with the huge volume of the falls roaring in the background. Take a picnic for this stop!
Continuing along you break out of the mountains and next stop was the Mackenzie junction Visitor Centre. It is so cute… a wooden train caboose. Kids just love it. And so they did a few miles down the road at Windy Point, restaurant and gas stop. The building has owner’s dwelling on the second floor, that opens onto a flat roof, complete with dog house and a couple of dogs that like to survey the goings on below. It was hilarious!
Carrying on through Macleod Lake and then Crooked River, I watching for the swans that are usually spotted this time of year but I was either too early or too late. But I did see three bears; one black turning over a stump, one very sleepy looking black and a powerful looking brown grazing a green hillside. And I moose. I made a point to stop in at Crooked River Provincial Park on Bear Lake because the last time I was there, we did see a bear. Not this time but what did greet me in this serene setting when I got out of the vehicle was an uproar of ducks. Lots of ducks! I’m sure things quiet down once the campers arrive to take in the fine sandy beaches on this lake.
And onto Prince George to close out the day! Stayed at Ester’s Inn … met up with some friends and had pizza in the indoor garden courtyard; it was fantastic. The pool was just feet away and the steam bath as well. I couldn’t ask for a better day.
July 13, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Sightseeing Tours
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What a day in Hudson’s Hope was like for us. Well we started off by driving from Fort St John along the Peace River. What a beautiful drive. Along the way we saw a black bear and a few deer with their babies.
Once we got to Hudson’s Hope we decided to go the Visitor Centre to get some ideas of where we should go and what we should do. The staff there was very helpful and nice. They started us off by pointing out the museum and the great view that was over by the museum to see the Peace River. Then they told us to go on a tour of the W.A.C Bennett Dam. So we checked out the museum which had a lot of great facts and history about Hudson’s Hope and then we headed up to the Dam 22km out of town. The W.A.C Bennett Dam had a wonderful and interesting hour long tour of the dam with great tour guides.
Once the tour was done we thought that it would be a great idea to go for a hike up on one of the mountains. The staff at the Visitor Centre had given us a few choices of different places that we could go to hike. We chose the hike up Bullhead Mountain. It was a very nice day for a hike. As we walked up the mountain we looked back and we could see for miles and miles it was such an amazing view and as we got higher the view was even more spectacular.
By the time that we were done our hike it was lunch time we thought that it would be a great idea to have lunch out at the Torwood Lodge. On our drive out to the lodge we saw to sheep and two elk. The lunch we had at the lodge was very good plus as we ate our lunch we had a great view looking out over the Williston Lake.
Once we finished it was time for us to head back home. We had a GREAT time and can’t wait to come back and see and do more in Hudson’s Hope.
July 12, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Hiking
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While we were in Hudson’s Hope we were in the mood for a nice hike down to the Peace River so that we could have a picnic. We were told to follow a trail behind the water pump buildings across from Beattie Park down to the old ferry landing. The ferry used to take cars across the river up until Peace Canyon bridge was built. The ferry stopped being used in about 1966.
We left our RV at the Visitor Centre and walked through Beattie park over to the where the old water pumps are and then walked down the trail where we crossed two white bridges with clear clean water flowing down over the rocks. Once we reached the bottom of the trail almost to the river there was a trail off to our right that took us to a beautiful small waterfall.
There were a few nice spots to sit down, relax in a quiet place listening to the river flow and have a picnic. As we looked out over the river we saw birds flying all around and some perched up in the trees singing away while we ate our lunch. Just before we decided to walk back up a beaver swam right in front of us going up the river.
The area was very clean just like the river. The color of the water was a very beautiful turquoise color when you looked out across the river. The trail is a little steep but not too bad, it’s a very nice hike.
July 06, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Sightseeing Tours
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The first time I went to Hudson’s Hope to quad I had a blast! There is a wide variety of things to do on a quad. There are also lots of trails to ride. Everything I wanted to do on the quad I could. I have gone to Hudson’s Hope more than once to quad or dirt bike. I like to go in the spring for the mud, and if I get tired of that I can ride some trails and if that gets tiring I can go up to the moraine. This is a big sand dune with lots of hills. Lots of fun to do hill climbs and stunts.
Sometimes the family and I will go to Hudson’s Hope for the day and just do a day ride, we never run out of things to do. In the spring and early summer is a real treat. Along the shore of Williston lake there is a beach that stretches down the shore line for as long as you can see.
One of my favorite times to go to the beach which is called Geddes bay is during May long weekend. During this weekend I bring my dirt bike to Hudson’s Hope. Usually there is a drag stretch which everyone races on. The beach is really close to the moraine too. So last year we raced on the beach for a good chunk of the day then a bunch of us rode the bikes and quads over to the moraine to hit jumps and do some hill climb races.
When it comes to riding in Hudson’s Hope, there’s pretty much everything except for a race track. Out of all the places I have ever went riding Hudson’s Hope has to be one of my favorites.
June 16, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Hudson's Hope, Parks
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We were looking for a short walk to take while in Hudson’s Hope and it was suggested that we take in the scenery at Alwin Holland Memorial Park.
The park is located on the Peace River, 3km south on Highway 29 from Hudson’s Hope. Alwin Holland was a graduate of McGill University and was the first teacher in Hudson’s Hope in the 1940’s. He was devoted to Hudson’s Hope, bought land at the glen and willed it to be used as a public park. By way of his generosity we can all access this spot on the river.
From the parking area there is a trail to the left that leads to the river. On the way to the river are the most fantastic rock formations, looking like the ancient river has smoothly carved out cubby holes in the cliffs that tower thirty feet above as you wind your way through this maze of mini canyons.
From the river’s edge it looks like great fishing and I wasn’t surprised to see two eagles perched on a huge spruce tree on one of the river’s many islands. And not 100 feet away a huge rock looms in the middle of the river. I guess the rock to be forty feet high and that much again in diameter.
The rock walls are striated and beckons us climbers, the top of the rock has a cap of shrubs and grass. At times the river is low enough to walk to the rock and scale it, but I understand it is not advisable as the water can come up so fast (from the dam upstream) that rock climbers have been stranded on their perch making rescue very difficult.
Upstream there are huge expanses of flat rock that carry on into the river and create a healthy set of rapids. I wish I had brought my fishing gear as the river just past the rapids is reputed to be great fishing. We instead set ourselves onto the rock that was warm from the noon day sun.
Although this is not a well know destination, we met some friendly locals that brought their sun hats, tackle box, picnic basket and dogs. How lucky they are to have this spot not five minutes away from their homes in the town of Hudson’s Hope.