Bella Coola, July 2026
- Richard Parker
- Jul 19
- 9 min read
Updated: Jul 24
It was 5:00am on Thursday and Vincent was packed and ready to take us to Bella Coola. We were on the 7:45 ferry from Duke Point to Tsawwassen where we began our drive to Lillooet, our first stop. We intended to drive up Highway 1 to Cache Creek and return on Highway 99. A forest fire at Boston Bar closed the road which meant we had to go through Vancouver instead.
This trip was designed around shorter driving days (4 to 6 six hours max) which gave us time to explore and take it a little easier than our typical trips.
Highway 99 stretches from The Peace Arch, through Vancouver, over the Lions Gate bridge, all the way to highway 97 just North of Cache Creek. This was new for me as I had never been past Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. Holly had been as far as Squamish when she backpacked Girabaldi with a friend.
We stopped for fuel in Pemberton and then challenged the steepest roads that Vincent has ever encountered in nearly 60,000 km’s. WOW! This 95km section of road is called the Duffey Lake Highway and climbs to Cayoosh Pass at nearly 4,500 feet. It passes through Marble Canyon and borders Lillooet Lake, Joffre Lake, Duffey Lake, and Pavillion Lake. To attempt a description of the scenery would overuse adjectives, cliches and phrases and would make even the writer nauseous. Rivers, lakes, waterfalls, mountains, secluded camp sites…. Everything we love.
Vincent has a little GI problem (gas injection!) at the moment and we were moderately concerned, but with the exception of a few hiccoughs, the hills were climbed and the summits passed!
Around 5:00p, we pulled into a BC Hydro recreation site 5 minutes before Lillooet and set up for the night. It is a beautiful spot beside a river and we enjoyed an amazing meal (Holly gets the credit as usual), a short walk and a typical night of cards!
Friday
After a relaxed slow morning, we were on the road by 10:00 and stopped at a Farmer’s Market in Lillooet. We came away with bannock, ginger snaps and corn relish!
Today was primarily a drive day although we stopped to see Pavilion Lake for a bit. We turned left at Williams Lake and drove until we were about 3 hours from Bella Coola.
We spent the night at a beautiful rec site on Pinto Lake. There were only two sites and both were empty. The views of lake, trees and mountains were calming after a day of coaxing our old bus up and down hilly roads.. Holly fabricated a 5 star, restaurant quality, chicken stirfry with Udon noodles. After dishes, we played lawn darts for a while (until I got tired of losing!).
Then we had some excitement! A bull elk (a young one) was bugling and panting fairly close to our site. It was barely dark and we were looking for moving shapes as the sound got closer. He walked along the road into the rec site about 100 feet from us. The bugling was eerie and haunting. Being alone and at deep dusk, the experience won’t be forgotten!
Cards and bed and a peaceful night! Tomorrow is a big day!
Saturday
We woke at 7:30, I made coffee and Holly made breakfast! We only had 3 hours to drive so we enjoyed a nice morning with sunshine and scenery! Once we left, it wasn’t long before the pavement ended and the potholes began. It was rough. Crawling at 40km we made it to the top of the “The Hill”.
Wow, what a road we experienced. It is all gravel and in sections, it is 18% grade and single lane. A slip off the edge would be catastrophic. It’s amazing that they were able to build the road in the first place. The switchbacks not only fold completely back on themselves, they also drop a few hundred feet between entering and exiting the hairpin turn.
Holly made some sounds I have never heard before. It was a blend of terror, agony, anger, a few impressively profane adjectives and a high pitched mewling noise that was quite disturbing! At the bottom, the words “never again” were exceedingly clear!
We will be heading back up the hill on Tuesday and that may be even more sporty.
Just for the record, my cucumber was far from cool and it was a serious effort to keep the anxiety out of my reassuring comments!
We were grateful for no rain and no traffic on the 21km section. And even more grateful for the scenery in the Bella Coola valley once we were down.
Our campsite for the next 3 nights was amazing. Right on the Bella Coola river, it was very secluded and had good facilities including showers and laundry. Top marks for Bailey Bridge Camping. At $35 a night for an unserviced site, it was a welcome gift at the end of this exciting day!
After checking in, we drove into Bella Coola and checked out the harbour in preparation for our charter on Monday. We met the charter operator and the harbour master and got the lay of the land regarding parking, time to drive to the harbour and potential issues like road closures on the way to the ocean.
Spaghetti and meat sauce tonight! Garlic bread too! Ah, roughing it!!!
Sunday
A rest day! We had a slow morning and left the campsite around noon. We drove back along Hwy 20 toward The Hill and visited all of the camp spots and viewpoints and did a couple short hikes. The weather was amazing. Some of the places we stopped at include Big Rock, Fisheries Pond, Stupendous Viewpoint, Belarko (Grizzly Watching Station), Tweedsmuir Lodge, McCall Flats, Burnt Bridge and then back to camp. Early night tonight!
Monday
Up at 5:30, coffee made, lunch packed and off to the harbour for 6:30.
We had booked with Jason Moody of Nan Adventure Tours. The days journey included a visit to natural hot springs at Tallheo, a hike to Big Cedar, a stop at Sasquatch falls and a side trip past an ancient village site to view pictoglyphs. We saw seals, dolphins, eagles, and a few potential bear sightings! The weather was perfect. Jason is the son of an appointed chief and is very active in fisheries and the promotion of the Nuxalk Nation. As a charter operator, he is professional, competent and a great guy in all ways. His deckhand for the day was Henry Schooner.
While Jason ran the boat, Henry told us many stories of early life in the valley. His given name is Q'puts and he is a teacher of song, dance and the Nuxalk language. Both of them were born in Bella Coola 45 and 50 years ago respectively. The stories and information fascinated us both. At the hot springs, they let us take their dingy to shore and later, we called them on a portable radio when we were ready to leave. They were off shore, around a point and we had the springs totally to ourselves. Henry sang and drummed from their boat while we soaked in the springs. It was magical. He said there are over 400 songs that his people have. Some were gifted to them by other nations and some are passed down over countless generations.
Big Cedar is huge and by far the largest we had ever seen. While we stood in awe of this giant in the forest, Henry drummed and sang. Overwhelming and powerful.
When we got back, we did a bit of shopping in Bella Coola, bought gas and headed back to camp. We prepared (physically and mentally!) for our departure in the morning and enjoyed a campfire! No fire ban in a rain forest!
Tuesday
Anxiety was the alarm clock for me this morning! Piloting a 51 year old classic VW bus up “The Hill” is not nothing. Especially one with a slight hiccough under certain loads and rpm’s. We were up, showered and on the road by 7:50. We didn’t need to be, but it was top-of-mind to get this ordeal dealt with for both of us! The gravel road climbs more than 4,000 feet in 21 km (12 miles) and it's very rough in places. Meeting someone in one of the single lane sections would be a major thing as someone would have to back up. The road was built in 1954 by the people of Bella Coola after the government refused to spend the money on such a steep and difficult road for only 1,000 residents in the valley. The government did eventually help with parts and the road holds a special place in the history of BC.
It was about 45 minutes from our camp to the bottom of the hill and the closer we got, the quieter we got! And then it was in front of us with nothing left to do but go up. Holly entered a state of self induced catatonic detachment. I went into my hyper-focus, get ‘er done and we’ll will deal with the stress later, mode!
Most of the trip was in 1st gear at 15 to 20 km/hr with a few sections in second gear. And within an hour, it was done! We reached the top! A few moments of chest beating, fist pumps, several “whoop, whoops” and a nervous pee and we were back on the road! (My own reaction was nearly identical by the way!)
We did it! What an amazing experience. So worth it and we will remember and treasure the experience forever.
The rest of the day involved driving through the amazing Chilcotin plateau with its rivers, vast vistas and amazing views. And free range cows and horses on the highay!
We ended the day at Dugan Lake campground which is South of Williams Lake. Stress exhausted and a little road weary, we ended the day with an awesome dinner (thanks to Holly) a fire (thanks to Holly), and a deep and needed sleep (after a couple of adult beverages and crib!).
Wednesday
The campsite on the lake was quiet and lovely and situated along the shores of a small, stocked fishing lake. But highway noise was annoying. Not on the return list!
Up at 8:00, I perked a pot of coffee and Holly crafted breakfast. What a simple joy it is to wake up to noisy squirrels, the eerie calls of loons, and the background of various birds announcing the day.
We left our snug camp and drove toward the Marble Canyon which is between Lillooet and Pemberton. Having short drive days allowed us to stop and see interesting stops along the way. One of them was a small park along a river in the town of Hundred Mile House. There were two or three small waterfalls and it was great to take a break and see the sights along the trail.
Another stop was at Chasm. Wow, what a view. It was extremely hot and even though the trail along the edge looked amazing, it was just too hot to consider a longer hike. After saying hello and goodbye to a friendly dog named Isla, we continued on our way. Isla’s dog tag read “Isla. I live in Chasm and I like to wander. Please don’t call my Dad”. The phone number was on the tag for emergencies only I suppose!
Feeling adventurous, we chose a bypass at Clinton that would take us past Downing Provincial Park. Google Maps said it would be just 4 minutes slower. Well…. Here is the review. The park is beautiful. Not many sites (quiet) and the facilities are brand new (after a fire in the recent past). However, the “bypass” road turns into a dirt path that goes over a mountain. Gravel and dirt, single track, switchbacks with crazy ascents and descents. After The Hill, it wasn’t too traumatic but still, “enough already”!
We passed through Lillooet, and entered the Marble Canyon region along the Duffey Lake highway (#99).
It is so extremely beautiful. We love this area. There are BC Parks recreation sites in abundance. We stayed at Gott Creek right on the edge of the creek. We walked in the creek to where it flowed into Cayoosh Creek. It was a hot day and the water felt so good! The park attendant visited and collected the $7.50 for our nights stay (senior rate!).
Thursday
With only 3 hours to drive today, we had a very leisurely morning and reluctantly left our most beautiful campsite of the trip at 11:00am.
Driving toward Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal, we passed through Pemberton. Before we got there, we encountered a lot of forest fire smoke and when we arrived, we saw the source. The entire hill behind the Pemberton Valley Lodge, right beside the highway, was ablaze. We pulled over and watched with horrified awe as 5 helicopters with buckets did laps from the river to drop water on the blaze. We wished them a quick victory and continued on our way. Along this stretch, Vincent celebrated 60,000km of amazing travels! Holly and I put the first kms on this odometer (after the rebuild) in 2018 on our way to a music festival in Port Albernie!
We pulled into Brandywine Falls for a quick walk and got to the ferry terminal with time to spare. We walked the harbour, had dinner at Trolls in the village and drove onto the ferry for our 8:30 departure.
The rain started, lightning and thunder as well, and we hoped that the storm puts the forest fires out without the lightning starting new ones.
We were home by 11:30 feeling absolutely exhausted! This was an amazing trip in so many different ways. It will take months to process all that we saw and did and pack it away for safekeeping. Thanks for coming along. Please email any questions or comments to either of us. ❤️
