Rainforest to Rockies: The Signature Circle Route

Welcome to a city surrounded by impressive nature. In Vancouver, glass towers mirror the green-blue Pacific Ocean. The city’s accessible and scenic Seawall encircles Stanley Park’s lush rainforest, framed by the mountains on Vancouver’s North Shore. Travelling north along the Sea-to-Sky Highway 99, views include the striking ocean and mountain panoramas of Howe Sound—a UNESCO-designated biosphere—and its small islands.

In the mountain town of Whistler, the 4.4-km PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola ride between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains offers gasp-worthy views of deep, fir-and-spruce-lined valleys. Beyond Pemberton and moving northeast, see jade-hued Lillooet Lake, the community of Lillooet, deep canyons, and raging rivers. From Cache Creek, the colours dramatically shift again into golden rolling hills and tan and copper-coloured canyons along the Thompson River, as Highway 1 brings you to sports-loving Kamloops. It’s a great base for hiking, biking, and exploring cultural experiences under sunny skies or set off from here to explore the BC region known as the Cariboo. 

This leg promises outdoorsy thrills like trail hiking, water activities, and waterfall-watching. Journeying north toward the Canadian Rockies, arrive in Clearwater, the gateway to Wells Gray Provincial Park. Carpeted with inland temperate rainforests, the 5,145-sq-km park includes Helmcken Falls, where water plummets 141m from a volcanic plateau. Mineral springs and lava beds add rich geological intrigue.

Wildlife surprises abound, from bears to bighorn sheep, as you travel east toward Mount Robson. Rough-hewn and pyramid-like, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies (3,954 m) is called Yexyexéscen (“striped rock”) by the Secwécpemc People.

Mount Robson Provincial Park trails, from alpine meadows to the Valley of a Thousand Falls, yield unforgettable views. Along the Kinney Lake Trail, ancient yellow cedars and glacier-fed waters await. (Be sure to check with the local Visitor Centre for access options and to book campsites in advance, and note that the park’s Berg Lake Trail is currently inaccessible as it undergoes repair work.)

Highway 16 transitions into a new province, Alberta, and its Jasper National Park, with stunning Maligne Canyon just 15 minutes outside the town of Jasper.

Larger-than-life scenery defines the Icefields Parkway journey south on Alberta’s Highway 93. The colossal Athabasca Glacier and turquoise Peyto Lake and Bow Lake feed your sensory overload, and there are ample photogenic pullouts.

Swing west from Lake Louise into UNESCO-recognized Yoho National Park, featuring nearly 30 peaks over 3,000 m high. View the multi-drop, 373-m Takakkaw Falls or canoe aptly named Emerald Lake. Dive into the past and discover 500-million-year-old fossils on a guided Burgess Shale hike at the Mount Stephen and Walcott Quarry trilobite beds.

Segue back via Highway 1 into modern mountain life in Golden and enjoy a local craft beer or brave the Golden Skybridge suspension bridges.

Revitalizing and relaxing experiences await down the Rocky Mountain Trench along Highways 95 and 93/95.

In Kootenay National Park, unwind in 37℃ mineral water at Radium Hot Springs Resort. And if hot springs sound like your perfect way to relax on holiday, there are plenty to melt into. Take the Hot Springs Circle Route, which features Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, Canyon Hot Springs, Halcyon Hot Springs Resort, Nakusp Hot Springs, and Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort.

Ornithology buffs treasure the protected, 17,000-hectare Columbia Valley Wetlands, home to more than 260 bird species that live between the Rocky and Purcell mountains. In Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park hike through pastoral meadows with western anemones and red paintbrush flowers. 

This rugged East Kootenays terrain morphs into rolling hills, lakes and farmland in the Columbia Valley through Invermere and Fairmont Hot Springs. An inexhaustible list of outdoor adventures beckons as you enter the mining and railway towns of Kimberley and Cranbrook.

Nature and culture intertwine on this home stretch. Experience Cranbrook’s Indigenous-owned and -operated St. Eugene Golf, Resort & Casino with championship golf, restaurants, and the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre, which celebrates and shares the resilience, culture, history, and experiences of the Ktunaxa Nation.

Moving westward on Crowsnest Highway 3 from Cranbrook, admire the densely forested Purcell, Selkirk and Monashee mountains and pass through the Kootenay Pass, BC’s highest mountain pass, between Creston and Salmo. The alpine ecosystem shifts magically into antelope brush, western bluebirds, and tiger salamanders in the semi-arid Okanagan desert and the town of Osoyoos. Through Keremeos and the Similkameen Valley, enjoy fruit right off the tree and small-batch wineries. Farther west, dark-sky-watching and camping await in E.C. Manning Provincial Park.

At Hope, where the Fraser and Coquihalla rivers meet, explore trails along fast-flowing rivers and wooden chainsaw carvings before following Highway 1 back to Vancouver, bringing with you more memories and escapades than you can share in one telling. 

Header image: Mount Robson Provincial Park | Megan McLellan