North of Whistler is Pemberton, gateway to the interior of British Columbia. This is a logging, ranching and farming community that lays claim to the title of “Disease-Free Seed Potato Capital of Canada”. It’s also becoming more of a resort town, with cafes, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, as well as many local arts and crafts and craft shops. The whole region is threaded with rivers coursing through steep walled alpine valleys and dotted with glacier-fed lakes, forests, hot springs, parks and campsites. With abundant snow in winter and warm summers, it’s a year-round playground for every sort of outdoor pursuit, from golf and llama treks to fishing and glider or jetboat tours.
Saturday Farmer’s Market. Fresh produce and cottage industry crafts, July to September.
Pemberton Museum. Gold rush exhibits and a settler’s home, as well as two homes originally belonging to aboriginals.
Nairn Falls Provincial Park. Camping, hiking and fishing for Dolly Varden south of Pemberton.
Side Trips. Take the Hurley Road to see ice fields from a distance. In winter, a snowmobile tour lets you lunch on these massive frozen fields. About 10 km. (6 miles) from the start of Duffey Lake Road, Joffre Lakes Provincial Recreation Area features a trail that connects three turquoise lakes. The gold rush towns of Bralorne and Gold Bridge are still welcoming visitors who are just passing through. Adult sockeye salmon pass through a fish hatchery at Anderson Lake near D’Arcy from mid-August to mid-September.
Mount Currie. Just east of Pemberton on Hwy. 99, the busy heart of the Mount Currie Reserve of the Lil’wat group of the Stl’atl’lmx Nation. Noted for a rodeo on long weekends in May and September.
Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park. About 70 km. (42 miles) past Mount Currie, fishing for kokanee, rainbow trout and Dolly Varden, and great wildlife viewing in forests that are home to moose, deer, black bear, martens, bobcats and beaver. Mountain goats can also be seen in spring.
