Highway 20 branches west from Williams Lake, a part-paved, part-gravel
road that runs 455km to BELLA COOLA , a village likely to gain an ever-greater
tourist profile in the wake of the new visitor-oriented ferry service
from Port Hardy on Vancouver Island . Most of the road ploughs through
the interminable forest of the Cariboo Plateau, but the last 100km or so
traverses the high and stunningly spectacular peaks of the Coast
Mountains and Tweedsmuir Provincial Park. Just outside the park you
encounter the notorious "Hill", a hugely winding and precipitous stretch
of highway barely tamed by the various upgradings over the years. Until
1953 there was no road link here at all. Instead there was a sixty-kilometre
gap in the mountain stretch, a missing link the state refused to bridge.
In response the locals of Bella Coola took it upon themselves to build
the road on their own, completing their so-called Freedom Road in three
years. Previously the settlement was the domain of the Bella Coola, or
Nuxalk, a group visited by George Vancouver as early as 1793. In 1869
the Hudson's Bay Company opened a trading post. One house belonging to a
company clerk is now all that remains. Besides a small museum and
glorious scenery, Bella Coola is hardly stacked with sights. Norwegian
settlers, however, perhaps drawn by the fjord-like scenery nearby, were
notable early pioneers, and language, heritage and buildings - notably
the square-logged barns - all show a Scandinavian touch. Hagensborg , a
village 18km east of Bella Coola, preserves a particularly strong Nordic
flavour. About 10km from the village, roughly midway to Bella Coola, are
the Thorsen Creek Petroglyphs , a hundred or so rock drawings: the
infocentre should be able to fix you up with a guide to explore the site.
No buses serve Bella Coola and beyond the village there is no onward
road route: unless you fly out, you'll have to either head back the way
you came or pick up the new Discovery Coast Passage boats to Port Hardy
that stop off at the port. Boats leave three times a week at 7.30am or
8.30am, arriving in Port Hardy at around 9.30pm that evening or 7.45am
or 9am the following morning depending on the number of stops en route
(fares are $110 per person or $220 per car ). If you want to indulge in
a plane in or out of town, contact Wilderness Airlines (tel 982-2225 or
1-800/665-9453).
Bella Coola's infocentre is on the Mackenzie Hwy near town (Mon-Fri
daily 9.30am-4.30pm; tel 799-5638). The new ferry service will probably
lead to the opening of more hotels and restaurants: currently
accommodation is provided by the Bella Coola Valley Inn (tel 799-5316;
$60-80), closest hotel to the ferry terminal, and the Bella Coola Motel
(tel 799-5323; $60-80) at the corner of Burke and Clayton - both places
are downtown. There's also the Bay Motor Hotel on Hwy 20, 14km east of
the town and 1km from the airport (tel 982-2212 or 1-888/982-2212;
$60-80). |
