British Columbia

British Columbia offers sea kayaking, surfing, world-class skiing (Whistler hosted the 2010 Olympics), hiking, paddling, and whale watching. Pacific Rim National Park Reserve and Tofino, the Yoho and Kootenay Rockies, Garibaldi Provincial Park, and the old-growth forests of Vancouver Island anchor it.

Summer (June–September) is the dry, prime season for hiking, paddling, and the interior; the coast and rainforest are lush year-round (winter is storm-watching season at Tofino), and ski season is long and deep.

Grizzly and black bears (including the rare white Spirit Bear of the Great Bear Rainforest), orcas and humpback and gray whales, sea otters, wolves, cougars, and salmon runs define BC's extraordinary wildlife.

From the world's finest coastal temperate rainforest — towering ancient cedar, spruce, and fir — to the alpine, the interior's dry valleys, and the productive Pacific, BC holds immense biodiversity; the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest on Earth.

BC is mountainous coast to interior — the volcanic and granitic Coast Mountains, the sedimentary Rockies, fjord-cut shorelines, and accreted island terranes — shaped by uplift, volcanism, and ice-age glaciers. Mount Fairweather (4,663 m) on the Alaska border is the high point.

Coast Salish, Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth, and dozens of other First Nations have inhabited BC for thousands of years, with rich maritime and totem traditions. BC joined Confederation in 1871.

Vibrant First Nations cultures, a deep outdoor and ski ethic centered on Vancouver and Whistler, Tofino's surf-and-rainforest scene, and the fight over old-growth logging define the outdoors.

Protecting old-growth forest (the Fairy Creek standoff), recovering the southern resident orcas and salmon, and First Nations–led conservation of the Great Bear Rainforest are the defining issues.

Vancouver International (YVR) is the main gateway, with ferries to Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and flights to the interior. Distances are large; a vehicle is essential outside the cities.

Bear and cougar country requires awareness and bear spray; the Pacific surf, cold water, tsunami risk on the coast, avalanches, and the rugged West Coast Trail all demand preparation.

BC Parks and Parks Canada manage the parks; the West Coast Trail requires a reservation and orientation, and whale-watching operators must keep legal distances from orcas.

Carry bear spray, and follow summer fire bans.

Book ferries, Whistler, and Tofino lodging ahead in summer; come in winter for storm watching or skiing. Carry bear spray, allow extra driving time, and respect the power of the Pacific surf.

BC borders Alberta, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska, linking the Rockies, the coast, and the Inside Passage.