This province is very rugged, with mountains covering most of its area (and great ski towns like Whistler, Revelstoke, Golden, and Fernie), and home to many different First Nations and their totems. There are high and dry plateaus in the interior, with Okanagan and Shuswups providing both stunning lakes and world-class wineries. And don’t skip the Coast and Vancouver Island which share their rocky beauty, tall, tall trees, and whales and other sealife. And while in Vancouver, check out “Hollywood North”, and the shopping, dining, and nightlife.
Main Tourist Areas of British Columbia
To help in exploring the province, we have divided our British Columbia content up into five major regions:
Here is the route of the #1 TransCanada highway from east to west:
Rogers Pass Summit Sign With Mountains (Mark Ruthenberg)
Leaving the Alberta border, you have a full day of driving through mountain ranges of the beautiful BC’s Canadian Rockies. You pass through Yoho National Parkto Golden, and cross the Columbia River which drains the southern BC Rockies, and then cross the Rogers Pass in Glacier National Parkthrough the Selkirk and Monashee Mountains.
The highest point on the Trans-Canada Highway is at the Kicking Horse Pass on the border between Alberta & BC, with an elevation of 1643 metres. The Roger’s Pass is 300 m lower (though there, the surrounding peaks are higher)
As you descend into the Interior of BC you arrive at Revelstoke, a city on the banks of the now-massive Columbia River system, there filled out from meltwater from the central Rockies and held back upstream by the Revelstoke Dam and the Mica Dam.
Have your cameras always ready!
Unquestioningly, the section between Lake Louise and Revelstoke is the most spectactular section of the Trans-Canada Highway system, because of the height, proximity, and steepness of the mountains on both sides of the highway. Only the Icefields Parkway (highway 93) between Jasper-Lake Louise beats it because of all the glaciers (including the famed Columbia Icefield) and peaks on both sides of the highway (and keep in mind, the best glaciers are on the north sides of the mountain peaks, best viewed when driving southbound)_.
From there, the Trans Canada Highway #1 winds westward past Three Valley Gap and through Eagle Pass into the prettyShuswap Lakes region, and the towns of Sicamous and Salmon Arm famous for its fleet of houseboats. To the south of Shuswap Lake is the sunny and hot Okanagan Lake region. The only major city on the Trans Canada Highway is Kamloops, where the North Thompson River joins the South Thompson.
From here, you can catch the ferryacross the Georgia Straight to Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. The ferry ride is typically 90 minutes. From there it’s a two-hour drive south through towns like Cowichan, Duncan, and Mill Bay to Victoriaand “Mile 0” of the Trans Canada Highway.
Tofino is NOT the “End of the Trans Canada Highway”
Many people have enquired with our website about the sign in Tofino, that claims to be the “Western Terminus of the Trans Canada Highway”, and we have been interviewed by travel journalists from around the world on this topic.
Tofino-End Of The Trans-Canada Sign-NOT really
The sign was erected back in 1912 by that town’s council to encourage construction of a cross-Canada roadway, suggesting it should end at the westernmost point possible. When the highway route was selected in the post-World War II era, it the federal funding for it was focused on connecting major population centres and provincial capital cities (see Highway History). That is why the official highway passes through/by Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay, uses a ferry connection to Nanaimo, and connects south to Victoria. At the time, back in 1953, the BC government extended the 4-lane Island Highway (#19) north from Nanaimoup to Campbell River, providing high-speed highway connections between the island’s major population (and commercial/tourist) centres.
The two-lane route to Tofino, Highway 4, was an unpaved gravel forestry road from 1959 until 1972, when it was paved, and is currently getting improved in a number of sections. This road was not paved until a decade after the Trans Canada Highway was deemed completed. The highway connects the communities of Parksvilleand Qualicum Beach, Port Alberni( a deepwater port long important to the lumber industry) and Tofino& Ucluleton the west coast of the Island. The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve was created in 1970, and was the impetus for the paving of Highway 4. The road has two high points, Port Alberni Summit (400 metres, about 9 km east of Port Alberni), and Sutton Pass (elevation 240 metred, about 40 km W of Port Alberni) west of Port Alberni.
The road between Qualicum Beach and Tofino has narrow shoulders, steep and long ups and downs, and is NOT RECOMMENDED for cyclists, wishing to do a cross-Canada route. Stick to the official Trans Canada Highway, and start/end your Pacific leg at Victoria.
The #3 Crowsnest Highwayfollows southern railway routes close to the Canada-US border, from Medicine Hat, Alberta(where it is also the #3 highway) and passing through Lethbridge, Fort MacLeod, and the Crowsnest Pass(both a location and a municipality) along the southern tip of Kootenay Lake to the southern Okanagan at Osoyoosand ending at Hope, where it connects to the main Trans-Canada route into Vancouver.
From the east, you pass through Sparwoodand Fernieand the major market centre of Cranbook. From there you head south to Crestonon the south en of Kootenay Lake, and then head south toward the US border through productive farmlands and then through the Kootenay Pass (elevation 1,775 m or 5,823 ft; watch for wintertime avalanche closures here) to Salmoand Castlegar.
From there you head west through Bonanza Pass (1,535 m or 5,036 ft) at Nancy Green Lake and then to Christina Lake, and meander through several small towns like Grand Forks before you descend into the Okanagan Valley at Osoyoos.
From Osoyoos, you head west along the very fertile Similkameen River, through Princeton, Manning Provincial Park up and over Allison Pass (elevation 1,342 m, 4403 ft), and past the Hope Slide (pictured at left) and the Coquihalla Highway and end at Hope.
British Columbia Road Trip Planner (Explore our directory)
Look for what to see & do, and where to stay in BC and cities/regions within it. First click on the LOCALE to search, then use the CATEGORY filter on the left side for the feature of interest!