cariboo & john hart highways

Highway 97 in British Columbia is the longest provincial highway in any province in Canada.If you’re traveling to Alaska from many places in the western US this is the road you take to get to the start of the Alaska Highway at Dawson Creek. I was traveling with some friends from Oregon and we joined Hwy 97 just north of Cache Creek, having taken Canada Highway 1 through the picturesque Fraser River Canyon and then the loop through the semi-arid Lillooet area. First impression – and one that lasted the whole length of this highway – was that the pavement was smooth and the road overall was in great shape! I had driven this road way back in 1996 and was amazed at how much it had improved over the years. There are many rest areas to stop and stretch your legs, all with outhouses that are kept pretty clean. We saw a variety of wild animals, including deer and black bear. There is lodging in all towns and often in very small hamlets in between as well. Restaurants are plentiful but don’t expect many “chains” except in the larger towns. We stopped mainly at roadhouses and cafes and overall had good experiences. (See my reviews of dining and lodging.)Highway 97 is called the Cariboo Highway along this stretch. South of Prince George, although we did not pass through any “urban” areas, we never really felt as though we were in the “wilderness”. There was steady traffic going both directions, including many large truck/trailers, hauling all kinds of goods. Although the towns are not large, there are quite a few of them and you’re rarely more than 50 miles or so from a town anywhere in this section.You’ll find that some of the towns have rather odd names – such as “100 Mile House”. All these towns had their origins in the Gold Rush days. The original road through this whole region was called the Cariboo Waggon Road, and all the “mile” stops were roadhouses. The mileage was figured going north from the small town of Lillooet, mile 0. There are several small Provincial parks located not too far off the highway, such as Chasm and Lac la Hache. Unfortunately, we were on a rather tight timeline and did not take the extra time to drive away from the highway to see most of them.We did stop at the Williams Lake Visitors Center which was well worth it. It’s a huge, glamorous wooden building and they have tons of free information and very helpful staff there. Prince George is a large city of about 80,000 that is known as B.C.’s northern capital and has all the hustle-and-bustle one might expect, including lots of restaurants, shopping and even a Costco! North of Prince George, the highway changes names to become the John Hart Highway. Suddenly, we noticed that the traffic diminished and I finally felt that we were getting away from civilization. The highway gradually climbs up to Summit Lake, which is the Continental Divide. Although it didn’t really seem as though we were in “mountains”, the road passes through the Rockies along this stretch. We stopped at Bijoux Falls Provincial Park and were glad we did. There had been a tremendous amount of rain in the week before we started our journey and the falls were just roaring! Although there are many rest areas along the highway, one that stood out to me was near Mt Le Moray as it had really beautiful views.We followed Highway 97 to the chainsaw carving town of Chetwynd – take the time to drive around town looking at the carvings as some of them are magnificent. We then opted to cut across the Peace River Valley through Hudson’s Hope (Hwy 29) and joined the Alaska Highway just north of Fort St John, heading to Fairbanks. (See my separate review for the Alaska Highway.) We enjoyed the scenic Cariboo & John Hart highways :-)