DAWSON CREEK & KISTKATINAW PROV. PARK

Dawson Creek

Now I’d really been looking forward to Dawson Creek. It sounded pretty cool with mile zero of the Alaska Highway, lots of historic buildings etc.

Well, we saw the mile zero thing … and that was cool. Then we got a brochure from the information office for a self guided tour of the town and saw some plaques – of some amazing buildings – that aren’t there anymore!!! What a disappointment! Just a lot of 1970’s era boxes of buildings with no character at all. And even then a lot of them were empty! A real let down! The Dawson Creek Tourism Office itself was ok and is located in a restored train station next to a restored grain elevator – kind of a feature landmark of the town.

Tourist Information, Dawson Creek

Mural in Dawson Creek

Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway, Dawson Creek

We drove out to Pouce Coup, a few miles south, ostensibly looking for an old railway trestle which we never found. However, we did discover the very cool Hart Hotel, which is one of the oldest hotels in British Columbia built in 1928 by two men. It was named after its founder, George Hart.

Hart Hotel, Pouce Coupe

Kistkatinaw Provincial Park

We drove out of there needing a bit of beauty and found it at the Kistkatinaw Bridge – and the Kistkatinaw Provincial Park. The bridge is a wooden bridge – they say the longest span of it’s kind anywhere – very cool – and the campground was beautiful. It’s right on the river and our site had a nice view and a short path so you could walk right up to it. Lovely nite and sound sleep!

Kistkatinaw Bridge

This morning we got up early and tried our hand at fishing the river and only succeeded in both of us losing our flies within seconds of throwing them out. WTF?? We have NO idea how that happened but we’re going to practice tying the flies on the line for a while before we do THAT again! Nevertheless it was a beautiful morning in a spectacular setting… so it was all good! What do they say, ‘the worst day fishing is better than the best day working’?

Linda Fly Fishing at Kistkatinaw Bridge

In the morning we drove on and arrived in Fort St. John which needs a new town motto: “We love our gravel!” There’s gravel everywhere. Our RV ‘park’ (I use that term loosely) is NOTHING but gravel – and loose, big rocky gravel. No picnic table and really nowhere you’d want to sit outside anyway. But we’re here for showers (I love camping in the bush but hate not washing!) and to get some provisions for the next haul north.