Experience The Great Wilderness Through a Local Lens

For all its vast landscapes and diverse wildlife, humans live here, too. The Indigenous Peoples and new residents who call The Great Wilderness home are just as much a part of its story, so who better to recommend the most rewarding hikes, the perfect valley for a cultural deep dive, or the best places for spotting wildlife or seeing the northern lights than those in the know? Meet a few locals who can help enhance your trip with insider tips and unique perspectives.

Based in Tumbler Ridge and the name behind Brandon Broderick Photography, Broderick captures everything from the smallest pine marten to the mightiest moose through his lens. But the animal he gets most excited about tracking and capturing on camera is the lynx.

“They’re very entertaining to watch,” he says. “I’ve had them curl up a few feet away from me and go to sleep. I’ve heard them purring. I’ve had them let me follow along while they hunt. The fact they’re so elusive makes it that much more special.”

Though it sounds fanciful for visitors to The Great Wilderness to see a lynx, Broderick says sighting wildlife is easier than you might think. In fact, most of his encounters happen on the side of the road from the safety of a car (he rarely brings his gear on hikes because it’s so heavy). He also believes in ethical wildlife photography, so he never calls or baits animals, which can negatively affect their behaviour.

Dickie saw them all the time growing up, but it wasn’t until his father passed away that he started seeking them out on purpose. He found watching the aurora a peaceful way to grieve and cope with the loss during those difficult years.

Now, if he sees them, he grabs his camera and heads out.

Some of his favourite places to see the aurora include Stone Mountain Park and Muncho Lake Park, east of Fort Nelson on the Alaska Highway. Located in the Northern Rockies, both provincial parks are high elevation, mountainous landscapes with very little light pollution.

McDougall’s other outfit, Terradise Eco Tours, takes visitors on custom tours around the region, most often into the backcountry on half day or full day hikes to alpine lakes or waterfalls for a full nature immersion. 

“I’ve always been drawn to clear, cold water,” says McDougall. “The air that you breathe when you’re near fast water—and especially a waterfall—there’s no cleaner air than that. It’s forest bathing, pretty much.” 

Her top-pick waterfall splashes down along the 4.3-km (3-mi) moderate trail to Exstew Falls, a huge falls that spills over a rock face with thundering fury. She takes hikers up to its base to sit in the mist before eating a picnic lunch by the swimming hole. 

“What I love most about carving is that I get to pass the knowledge on. I get to preserve and teach our formlines to the next generations,” says McNeil, a self-taught wood carver who mostly learned from pictures.

Carving formlines—the continuous, tapering lines that are a hallmark of Northwest Coast Indigenous art—are artistic expressions of mother nature, says McNeil. Their curves and whorls might mimic the flow of a river or the shape of a mountain, for example.

VON: Lisa Kadane
Aus: Kelowna

Lisa Kadane ist eine preisgekrönte Journalistin, die seit mehr als zwei Jahrzehnten über Reisen, Outdoorabenteuer, Kulinarik und Cocktails schreibt. Obwohl sie bereits mehr als 50 Länder bereist hat, kann sie von Kanada nicht genug bekommen und liebt es, die Berge, Seen und Täler in der Umgebung ihrer Heimatstadt Kelowna zu erkunden. Lisa Kadane schreibt für eine Vielzahl von Druck- und Onlinepublikationen über British Columbia, darunter CNN Travel, die Vancouver Sun, den Toronto Star, und Fodor’s Travel. Wenn sie nicht gerade im Okanagan wandert oder Ski fährt, verbringt sie Zeit mit ihrem Ehemann, ihren zwei Kindern im Schulalter und ihrem bretonischen Spaniel.