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Prince George to Cache Creek - Cariboo Hwy #97:
This route follows much of the historic Cariboo Wagon Road and the Gold Rush Trial of the 1860's, to the Lower Mainland enroute to Vancouver, BC. Along the way you will pass through Quesnel "The Gold Pan City" and the turn off to the restored Gold Rush town of Barkerville - 89 km (55 mi.) east of Quesnel on Highway #26.
At Williams Lake, home of the famous Williams Lake Stampede rodeo, you encounter the crossroad with The Chilcotin Hwy #20 that travels west through the Chilcotin, the heart of BC's "Cowboy Country", and on to the coastal town of Bella Coola (456 Km - 283 Miles). The Bella Coola Valley is famous for it's fishing and grizzly bear watching, and is the terminal for the BC Ferries to Vancouver Island (be sure to check for BC Ferries schedules for sailings).
Farther south, at 100 Mile House you can turn east on Hwy #24 (The Fishing Highway), which provides access to hundreds of the most productive rainbow trout fishing lakes in the world, enroute to it's meeting with Hwy #5, at the community of Little Fort. Hwy # 5 is the major connector that follows the North Thompson River Valley north from Kamloops to Hwy #16 at Tete Jaune Cache. This is the popular route through the Rockies to Jasper and Edmonton.
Continuing south from 100 Mile House on Hwy #97 you will pass through 70 Mile House, with it's access to the many beautiful recreational lakes and fishing resorts to the east. Just a little farther on is the historic Gold Rush town of Clinton, home to some of BC's finest guest ranches. South of Clinton Hwy #97 meets with the Trans Canada Hwy #1 at junction town of Cache Creek. Here's the terrain is semi-desert with stunning canyons formed by the Thompson River.
