British Columbia
 

I'm thinking about visiting BC sometime next year for a few weeks and was wondering if anyone could advise on the best time of year, places of interest, bike & car hire costs, where to avoid etc.

Not interested in large cities in general although we want to visit Vancouver. The plan is to get cheap flights and travel about exploring the area.

All help appreciated.

Thanks Steve

Hello, anyone out there in the Great White North?

I know from looking at previous postings in many topics that there's a few regulars living in or around Vancouver!

Any info appreciated or have you all gone in to hibernation zzzzzzzzzzz.

Steve

I just got back from BC. Go in August if you can. Great weather that time of year. Best part of Canada, as far as I am concerned. I can't help on bike rental, I rode my own.
John

See below.it is from the BMWMOA web site.
Touring and bike rentals in North America.
http://bmwmoa.org/global/ToNorthAmerica.htm
John

I'm in Vancouver. Who wants to come here and go dual-sport riding?

I live in the mountains around Vancouver...

DRZ400s

Help me!!!

JZBC

Hey I can also lend my Kawi ZR7s. It rocks the streets.

JZBC

Hey there. It all depends on what you want to do. I would agree that August is the best month for biking because most if not all of the snow is gone at the higher elevations and the mosquito population has droppped drastically by then if you are into camping.

BC has everything for any type of rider. Like twisties? We got that. Like high mountain trails for your Dual Sport? We got that. Like riding through desert country? We got that. Mountains, valleys, plains... we got that.

Best chance for rentals is in Vancouver. The biggest city in the northern half of the province is Prince George and I havent found a bike rental shop there yet.

As for riding...you can cross the province in one day if that is all you do. Count on a 16-18 hr day if thats what you want. North to south CAN be done in a day, but there again all you are doing is riding. There are countless back roads that lead to nice sleepy little towns that beg to be explored.

One of the better routes IMHO is Highway 3 (Crowsnest Highway) which crosses the southern part of the province. It basically starts out in Hope BC (1.5 hrs east of Vancouver) and ends at the BC/Alberta border near Cranbrook. All sorts of riding falls in between these two cities. When I did this ride, it was a FULL 3 days of exploring and I didnt even reach the tip of the ice berg. Lots of opportunity to get off the beaten track and check out some great riding on some great backroads.

Well, Ive droned on long enough. BC is great. You will really enjoy it.

Thanks everyone for the replies, greatly appreciated. Hope to visit BC next year.

Steve

Steve,

You may want to purchase "Destination Highways British Columbia".

Its written specifically for motorcycles, 450 + pages, lots of info, best roads, bike shops, ferry info, etc.

Its ISBN #0 9684328 0 8 Twisted Edge Publishing

Also, travelling is a lot cheaper here than the UK. We were in your neck of the woods this summer and we found it very expensive.

Have fun,

Mark

Go in July or August. (Try to avoid BC Day in August- lots of traffic, hard to find a camp spot.)

My suggestion is to get a map and then pick curvy roads through Southeast BC. There's ton of them. Whatever you find, you'll like it. That's what I just did and it was great. (My personal favorite was a road between Kaslo and New Denver. I thought it was one of the best stretches on a 6,000 mile roundtrip to AK.)

Then head over to Alberta for a ride through Jasper. If you have time, take the Al-Can highway and come back down the Cassiar.

Steve:

Try this link, which is the BC Government's tourism site: http://www.tourism.bc.ca

Also, the BC Government tourism office has a representation in the UK, the info is as follows:

Victoria Hicks
Trade & Media Coordinator
Tourism British Columbia
British Columbia House
3 Regent Street, 3rd Floor
London SW1Y 4Ns
UK Phone: 44 207 930 6857 Ext. 206
Fax: 44 207 930 2012
Email: VHicks(NOSPAM)@(NOSPAM)TourismBC.co.uk

remove (NOSPAM) for real address. I'm sure they get a ton of spam already, but no sense in us giving them ammunition. Grant.

[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 03 December 2003).]

Thanks for the info!

Steve

Steve,
I haven't been to BC in a long time, but it's awesome. There's a road in the National Park (Jasper and Kootenay and I prob'ly spelled it wrong but I'm too danged lazy to look it up) anyway that borders Alberta called the Icefield Parkway that you wouldn't want to miss. Definately go in July or August. If you do around then, the Calgary Stampede around the 4th of July is a great time also. The only negative - there's mosquitoes big enough to er, well never mind just take a lot of repellant.

Chris

Thanks to everyone for responding, most helpful.

Steve

Here's an idea - plan to hit the Revelstoke HU Meeting - fantastic riding area and lots of great people. See the Meetings page for details.

------------------
Grant Johnson

Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------

One world, Two wheels.
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com