There are many excellent hiking opportunities in the parks and mountains around Smithers. Some of the best include: Twin Falls and Glacier Gulch, a 20-minute walk that leads to a viewing platform for the falls; Malkow Lookout, a family hike that features valley and mountain views and a picnic table at the top; Babine Mountains Provincial Park, containing some of the finest hiking trails in BC and a first-come, first-served cabin for overnight shelter; as well as Crater Lake, a moderate hike to a cirque lake (one eroded by a glacier) that is sometimes still icy in mid-June.
There are numerous campgrounds around Smithers, some located on the banks of the Bulkley River, which is a famous salmon and steelhead fishing waterway. Camping in the vehicle-accessible campground in Tyhee Lake Provincial Park will give you lots of convenient recreation options, while the three, vehicle-accessible campgrounds around Babine Lake make good bases for trout and char fishing.
Other popular outdoor activities include golfing, cycling, mountain biking and horseback riding. Golf at Smithers Golf & Country Club, an 18-hole, par-72 course nestled in the Bulkley Valley. It offers mountain and glacier views and greens lined with dense forest. Cycle around Smithers with your family on the easy-going Perimeter Trail or strike out for Telkwa Pass or Babine Mountains Provincial Park for some great mountain biking. Babine Mountains Provincial Park is also a great place for horseback riding. You can book guided rides that last anywhere from half an hour to several days.
Smithers' most notable buildings are the Heritage Railway Station, the Central Park Building and St. James Anglican Church.
The train station was built in 1919, shortly after the founding of the town, to serve the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. It's now a VIA Rail passenger station. The Central Park Building was built in 1925/1926 to house government services. It's now home to the Bulkley Valley Museum and the Smithers Art Gallery.
St. James Anglican Church was built in 1913, the year the town was founded. Abandoned for many years, it now serves as a performing arts centre. There's also the impossible-to-miss Alpenman Statue: it was transferred to Smithers from the community of Rock Creek in 1972, after the Town Council decided Smithers should adopt an alpine theme.
Smithers was founded in 1913 as a divisional headquarters for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. Its population grew as word got out about agriculture, forestry and mining opportunities in the area. Of course, the Bulkley Valley area was inhabited long before the arrival of the railway: the Wet'suwet'en people had thrived there for thousands of years, and still do in the communities of Moricetown, Hagwilget, Broman Lake, Burns Lake, Skin Tyee and Nee Tahi Buhn. The Bulkley Valley Museum chronicles both First Nations and European settlement in the area and offers guided Historic Walking Tours of Smithers.
Artists are well represented in Smithers, where you can enjoy music, dance and theatre performances as well as fine and First Nations art throughout the year. The town hosts the Smithers' Midsummer Festival, a popular, folk-music-inspired music festival held each June. The Smithers Art Gallery, as well as a number of private galleries, exhibit art by local and regional artists year round. For more information about the Smithers arts scene, visit the Smithers Visitor Info Centre or the Smithers Art Gallery.
One of the most exciting natural attractions near Smithers can be found in Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park. A short trail leads from its parking lot to a platform overlooking a cliff face that is one of the world's most significant fossil beds. In the shale there are fossils of plants, animals and insects that are 50 million years old!
To investigate the area's human history, visit the Bulkley Valley Museum, which chronicles both First Nations and European settlement in the valley, or 'Ksan Historical Village, a replicated First Nations village built on the site of the original Gitxsan village of Gitanmaax. The village is a two-time winner of the Attractions Canada Award.
Smithers has a surprising number of entertainment options for a town of its size. The Della Herman Theatre hosts live performances of various kinds. The Midsummer Music Festival, held each June, celebrates folk music and is one of the major music events of the year. You can also hear folk music in the evenings at Norma's Ark, in the nearby community of Telkwa, staged by the Bulkley Valley Folk Music Society.
The Salmon Run Festival, in mid July, celebrates the return of the chinook salmon to the area. Events include the Tyhee Lake Triathlon, The Salmon Run Road Race, Trail Day Cross-country Run, Kids' Triathlon, tours of Moricetown Canyon and a traditional Wet'swet'en salmon barbeque.
The Smithers Civic Centre is an ice arena where you can watch figure skating and minor league hockey. It's also home to the Smithers Steelheads, a Central Interior Hockey League team (AA hockey).
Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park is home to one of the world's most significant fossil beds. In the shale there are fossils of plants, animals and insects that lived in the area 50 million years ago. Signage on the viewing platform will help you to interpret what you are seeing in the rock.
Another spectacular natural phenomenon is the double waterfall at Twin Falls and Glacier Gulch. Take the 20-minute walk from the parking lot to the viewing platform, where you can watch the water cascade over the edge of Kathlyn Glacier and tumble into a pool below.
At 32,400 ha (80,062 ac), Babine Mountains Provincial Park is the largest park near Smithers. It features some of BC's finest hiking through terrain that includes glacier-fed lakes, rugged peaks and extensive, sub-alpine meadows. Sightings of mountain goats, bears, moose, marmots, deer and many bird species are common along these trails. A cabin located in the Silver King Basin provides overnight shelter to hikers on a first-come, first-served basis. Maps for summer and winter use of the park are available from the Visitor Info Centre.
The Moricetown Canyon, a 20-minute drive west of Smithers, is a must-see. The entire width of the Bulkley River rushes through the 15-m (50-ft) wide canyon, making beautiful, white, cascading falls. During the summer months, watch for First Nations fisherman along the river banks. Using a traditional technique, the fishermen catch fish using nets and gaff poles. There's a pullout and rest area overlooking the canyon from the highway.
Tyhee Lake Provincial Park is popular with families, anglers and birders. There's a vehicle-accessible campground here, as well as a lakeside trail through an aspen forest that is home to osprey, belted kingfishers, common loons and red-necked grebes. Birders might also want to visit the community of Telkwa in late April, when the area hosts thousands of migrating sandhill cranes. The best viewing time is at dawn.
The Bulkley Valley is studded with lakes of all sizes; run-off from the surrounding mountains keeps river water levels up year round. All this creates near-perfect conditions for paddle sports, such as canoeing and kayaking, as well as habitats for many fish species.
The steelhead trout fishing in the Bulkley River (late August to late November) is legendary. You can find lots of Dolly Varden and chinook, coho and pink salmon here as well. Tyhee, Round, Call, Chapman, Doris and Babine Lakes are good places to fish for other species of trout, such as lake, rainbow and cutthroat.
The best rafting waterways in the area are the Babine River, where you'll encounter Class I to IV rapids (and often Grizzly Bears) and the Bulkley River, which has more than 30 rapids. The former is rafted on a 5-10 day trip, while the latter can be done in a day. For swimming, head to the public beaches at Lake Kathlyn and Tyhee Lake Provincial Park. Guided fishing, canoeing, kayaking and rafting tours are available from Smithers-based companies.
While Smithers prides itself on its excellent, all-season recreational opportunities, winter may be its best season of all. You can ski or snowboard on fresh, unmarked powder at any time of day at Ski & Ride Smithers (the local ski hill), where you'll rarely encounter a line-up for the lift.
The Bulkley Valley Nordic Centre, on Hudson Bay Mountain, offers wide, well-groomed cross-country trails as well as activities such as night skiing, biathlon and racing.
Snowmobilers come from all over BC to take advantage of the ideal conditions around Smithers. You can ride on groomed trails or in untracked wilderness in well-known snowmobiling areas such as The Onion, The Dome and The Microwave. The local snowmobiling club maintains a number of day-use cabins for the benefit of all riders in the area. Other popular winter activities include ice fishing, ice climbing, dogsledding and snowshoeing.