'Larger than Belgium': Wild B.C. area named among seven world wonders to visit this year
A vast area of wilderness in B.C. has been named among the seven world wonders as one of the best places to visit this year if you’re looking for an outdoor adventure.
B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest was chosen thanks in part to the tourism restrictions that have been placed on it.
The inclusion comes from CN Traveller, which recently put out a list of seven places that folks should have on their travel lists this year.
“Stretching along British Columbia’s remote Pacific coast, the Great Bear Rainforest is one of the last great temperate ecological wildernesses on earth, encompassing 50,000 square miles of rainforest, fjords, and isolated terrain,” CN says.
CN adds, “Cedar and spruce rise from moss-sodden ground, rivers flash silver with migrating salmon, and the rare spirit bear, a white-furred black bear, moves silently through the undergrowth.”
Getting to the Great Bear Rainforest requires multiple modes of transportation and isn’t as simple as a straight drive from Vancouver. You can visit the B.C. rainforest by air travel or on a long ferry journey.
BC Ferries offers a tour called the Great Bear Circle Tour that would also get you there. The tour takes six days and includes five stops.
One of the other reasons that CN is celebrating the rainforest includes the relationship between the land and the First Nation that governs it.
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“What sets the region apart is not only its ecology, but its governance by the First Nation Sahtuto’ine (meaning Bear Lake People) community. Industrial logging is heavily restricted here, tourism tightly controlled, and ecosystems monitored with long-term thinking,” CN says.
“The pinnacle of this conservation work can be seen at Great Bear Lake.”
CN says that the lake is larger than Belgium and that it straddles the Arctic Circle.
“It’s the eighth largest lake on earth, and the surrounding tundra and boreal forest stands pristine in a wilderness that’s far from postcard scenery, but more a living agreement between land and people.”
The Province calls the rainforest a “global treasure” that covers 6.4 million hectares in B.C.