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A British Columbia Primer
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TRAIL SMELTER
At one time the largest operation of its kind in the world, and one of the dirtiest. Cleaned up its act in the 1970s. It was fed by the nearby Sullivan Mine and closed after a century of production. The smelter is one of BC's few successful heavy industries.
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NORTH PACIFIC CANNERY VILLAGE
A restored coastal salmon cannery at Port Edward, south of Prince Rupert. Complete with boardwalks and workers' housing, it is a National Historic Site.
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CARTOONS OF LEN NORRIS
He created the world of Tiddlycove and Amblesnide and exposed the pretensions of small-minded bureaucrats and bumbling politicians. Christmas wasn't complete without his annual collection of cartoons from the Vancouver Sun under the tree.
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CHARLIE LAKE CAVE
An innocuous hideaway in a rocky outcrop just off the Alaska Highway is the oldest dated place of human occupation in BC. Remains found here go back 11,500 years, when glaciers still covered much of the province.
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COLUMBIA ICEFIELD
Speaking of ice, this immense frozen slab straddles the BC-Alberta border, where it is seen by travellers on the Icefields Parkway. Can fairly claim to be the "Mother of all Rivers" since water from the summit drains into the Pacific, Arctic and the Atlantic oceans.
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SS MOYIE
The last surviving member of the fleet of paddlewheel steamboats that once plied the waterways of the BC Interior. Moored permanently on the Kaslo waterfront, the vessel is 104 years old and still receiving visitors.
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SCULPTURE OF BILL REID
From The Spirit of Haida Gwaii at the Vancouver airport, to The Raven and The First Men at the UBC Museum of Anthropology, to the bronze killer whale outside the aquarium, this Haida carver's monumental sculptures have become recognizable symbols of the province.
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ESTEVAN POINT LIGHTHOUSE
BC has the most extensive system of staffed lighthouses remaining in official service anywhere in the world, and this towering west coast giant with its dramatic flying buttresses is the flagship of the fleet.
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EAGLE WATCHING AT BRACKENDALE
Not the only place to watch these majestic birds, but one of the best. Returning salmon attract the largest concentration of bald eagles in North America to the banks of the Squamish River and its tributaries for several weeks each winter.
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BCP 45
The West Coast's answer to the Bluenose--a 73-year-old wooden fishing boat, now retired and on display at the Vancouver Maritime Museum. Its appearance on the Canadian $5 bill for many years gives it bragging rights as BC's most famous marine vessel.
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