High On A Mountain Top In British Columbia
Thursday, September 2nd, 2010With a total land area of nearly 360,000 square miles, and most of it rugged alpine country, hiking tours of British Columbia are plentiful and diverse. British Columbia also has a population density of fewer than five residents per square kilometer as most of the province’s 4.5 million inhabitants live in the metro areas of Vancouver and Victoria. With this sort of open space, you will locate solitude and natural vistas that in many places have been seldom explored on foot by Europeans and a clear understanding of B.C.’s motto, “Splendor Without Diminishment”.
Canada’s department of ecology, Environment Canada, has categorized British Columbia into six distinct ecological zones, each of which provides hikers a unique experience. Of course, as hiking and other forms of outdoor recreation has gained in popularity, so have the amount of vacation rentals and Canada romantic getaways through the province. Lodgings at a scope of prices from as low as $24 (CDN) per night may be located in even the most out-of-the-way vacation destinations.
If you are interested in an all inclusive resort that is truly a pampering experience, consider Cathedral Lakes Lodge near Penticton in south-central British Columbia. Hiking trails at 7000 foot elevations can take you to any one of seven unspoiled mountain lakes where the trout fishing is superb.
Ecotourism is just one appealing hiking opportunity that is broadly available in British Columbia. These are tours, frequently taken on foot, in which people have the chance to travel to a number of the more ecologically susceptible regions including the coastal temperate rainforests that stretch from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California and the delicate sub-arctic taiga and boreal plains.
Sponsored by the province’s municipal governments and non-profit organizations, these ecotours are handled in a fashion so that individuals leave a minimal footprint on the region while having a chance to enjoy local flora and fauna in a natural state. Because so much of British Columbia is unspoiled by people, hikers will have a chance to see many types of wildlife that have become rare in the more heavily populated U.S.
If you are looking for a change from hiking in British Columbia’s picturesque mountain country from one of the region’s cabin rental accommodations, you should also take into account agritourism. As is the case in Washington and Oregon to the south, British Columbia is an important agricultural center, particularly in the southern and eastern segments of the province. Agritours give hikers a chance to see and even take part in the workings of green farms in a few of Canada’s most diverse farmlands.