British Columbia Magazine

Prince George carries the unofficial title of Moose Capital of BC, and spring is one of the best times to spot them.

The city sits at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako rivers, and the willow flats, marshes and wetlands along both waterways are prime moose habitat. BC is home to the largest black bear and grizzly bear populations in Canada, with three-quarters of the country's mammal species found in the province and 24 species found nowhere else.

Northern BC is consistently ranked among Canada's top wildlife viewing regions, and as animals emerge and become more active through March and April, the chances of an encounter increase significantly.

Have you spotted any wildlife this spring?

BC is home to more than 80 percent of North America's breeding pairs of Black Swifts, yet most people have never seen one.

Designated endangered in 2015 following an estimated 50 percent population crash over the previous 40 years, the species nests almost exclusively near inaccessible waterfalls, sometimes building its moss-covered nests in rock crevices hidden behind a curtain of water. In 2022, a Birds Canada team identified the first confirmed coastal BC nesting colony after surveying 22 possible locations from Vancouver Island to the Okanagan.

Outside of nesting season, tracking data from Colorado suggests the birds fly to the Amazon Basin, staying aloft for up to 10 months at a time and rising above 4,000 metres during full moon periods to hunt insects by moonlight. Biologists are still working to confirm whether Canadian birds follow the same route.

Have you ever spotted one?

The Kaiwo Maru, whose name translates to "King of the Sea," is a four-masted barque built in 1989 to carry on the legacy of a 1930 Japanese training vessel of the same name.

The original ship trained over 11,000 merchant marine cadets and covered nearly two million kilometres over 59 years of service. Today's Kaiwo Maru, operated by Japan's Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers, continues that tradition, bringing cadets to ports around the world.

She made a return stop at the Richmond Tall Ships Festival, one of the few events on the Pacific coast where a vessel of this scale comes within reach.

Beautiful work capturing her, 📸 (via instagram)

Saturna Island sits just 43 kilometres from Tsawwassen, yet remains one of the least visited of the outer Gulf Islands. Over half the island is protected land within the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, encompassing old-growth forest, Garry Oak meadows, and the East Point headland where tidal currents from the Strait of Georgia collide and orcas feed in season.

The island was named after a Spanish naval schooner, the Santa Saturnina, that explored the area in 1791. Its July 1st Lamb Barbecue dates to 1950, when an Argentinian settler cooked three lambs for a school picnic in the traditional Argentinian style — a tradition that continues to this day.

Getting there from Tsawwassen requires a ferry transfer, with total travel time just over three hours.

Have you been?

47 kilometres of coastal trail along the southwest shore of Vancouver Island — this is the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, running from China Beach to Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew. The trail passes through Pacheedaht Territory and was originally built in 1996, with portions of the infrastructure constructed alongside youth from Pacheedaht First Nation.

Most of the surrounding land was previously logged, and walking the trail puts you face to face with every stage of a productive forest's life — old growth cedar, second and third growth stands, and overgrown logging roads reclaimed by ferns.

The strait it's named after was once called the Graveyard of the Pacific for the frequency of 19th-century shipwrecks along its shores. The trail draws an estimated 300,000 visitors annually.

Mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus) are found throughout BC's mountain ranges, from the Coast Mountains to the Rockies.

They are well adapted to steep, rocky alpine terrain, with hooves that have hard outer edges for gripping rock and soft inner pads for traction.

Adults typically range between 45 and 140 kilograms, with both males and females carrying short black horns. They rarely venture below the treeline except in winter, spending most of the year in high alpine and subalpine zones.

Great shot by 📸: Kennybloomberg

BC has launched an Adventure Tourism Hub to centralize permitting for operators running heli-skiing, cat skiing, heli-assisted guiding, and commercial snowmobiling. Previously, operators navigated separate regional permitting systems with no single point of contact. Applications will now route through FrontCounter BC to a dedicated team that manages files from intake to decision.

The hub is a pilot project backed by $7.5 million in Budget 2026 funding, and is part of the province's Look West Tourism Sector Action Plan, which targets doubling visitor spending by 2036. Full details at the link in bio.

🔗 bcmag.ca/bc-launches-adventure-tourism-hub

BC Launches Adventure Tourism Hub • British Columbia Magazine British Columbia’s vast backcountry has long been a magnet for adventure seekers – from powder-hungry heli-skiers to guided snowmobile enthusiasts. Now, the province is taking steps to make it easier for the businesses behind those experiences to operate and grow. A newly announced Adventure Tou...