sludick

So, our long-awaited vacation in BC and the Rockies is coming up next month, and I am rethinking part of the loop. Specifically, I'm wondering if it might be better to spend 2 nights in Quesnel rather than Prince George. That would put us in a reasonable distance (I think) to spend a day over in Barkerville Historic Town and Park.

For some perspective, the trip looks like this:
- Fly into Spokane, night at airport Ramada
- To Osoyoos, for 2 nights at Spirit Ridge and winery visits
- Up through Okanagan through the day, then over to Clinton for 1 night
- To Prince George for 2 nights (not sure what exactly we will do)
**or, 2 nights in Quesnel and explore that area plus Barkerville
- To Dawson Creek for 1 night (we do have some side trips and activities)
- To Jasper for 3 nights at Patricia Lake Bungalows (coming down on east side and into park just for curiosity's sake)
- To Banff for 4 nights (timeshare)
- To Waterton for 1 night
- To Glacier Natl Park US for 2 nights (Izaak Walton)
- To Spokane for 1 night
- Home

I picked Prince George because it seemed fairly midway, and thought we could find some historic sites and scenic areas to explore in the general vicinity, but I don't have anything specific identified. Would like opinion on whether the Quesnel/Barkersville option is worthwhile vs. the "big city" Prince George. Thanks in advance.

Yooper2013

We stopped at Quesnel for an overnight on the Rocky Mountaineer. I don't think you'd want to stay for more than one day.

sludick

Thanks. What hotel did they put you up in?

sludick

I just wanted to report back on this Quesnel question. We did decide to stay 2 nights in Quesnel rather than Prince George, and it turned out to be a good decision.

We stayed at kitschy Billy Barker Casino and Hotel. Our room was decorated with vintage items, although the bed was probably the most comfortable of all the places we stayed on vacation. We walked down to the nearby Ulysses restaurant, had a decent Greek-ish meal, and bought drinks for a couple celebrating their anniversary. Everybody we met was friendly, and we just felt much at home there.

The downtown itself was small enough to be comfortable and big enough to have what we needed. The pulp mills were on the outskirts, so we didn't get that smell. We went to Barkerville, on our first day as well as the full day. It was well worth the time, in our opinion. Since we were on that leg of the trip to learn more about BC's pioneering and gold rush history, that was perfect.

Prince George by contrast looked dreary and smelled foul when we arrived. The railroad museum was closed until later in the day, so we just had breakfast (White Spot, all we could find) and moved on.

BC_Robyn

Thanks for the update, sludick. Quesnel, despite being a blue collar small town, would provide you with the gold rush history. Did you get to try the craft brewery there? Barkerville is such an amazing destination. So glad you ended up there. The town of Wells is also worthy of a stop.

sludick

We didn't make the craft brewery there, no. But we had such fun chatting with the locals everywhere we went. We bought local music, stopped in anywhere along the Cariboo Road that we found something historic or unusual, and had the best time. By the way, Dawson Creek was also surprisingly better than anticipated.

Already planning our next foray into roads a bit less traveled in your area...