Natural Wonders in British Columbia

Mountains stretch across BC. Formed over millennia, their jagged summits, shadowed valleys, and glacier icefields still shift and sculpt the land.

These peaks are striking, immense, and full of presence, offering moments that can stop you in your tracks.

Mount Robson—the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies—stands at the heart of this alpine story along the Rainforest to Rockies route. The Texqakallt Nation called it Yexyexéscen (pronounced Yuh-hai-has-kun), meaning the mountain of the spiral road, for the way it rises in a layered form from the valley floor. Often cloaked in cloud and crowned in ice, Mount Robson is the centrepiece of Mount Robson Provincial Park, part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage site.

In southeastern BC, the Purcell, Selkirk, Monashee, and Canadian Rockies ranges stretch wide across the horizon. Each range carries its own character, and every summit holds a story, known as the Birthplace of Adventure.

The Great Wilderness in the north is home to Salmon Glacier, which offers a rare view of vast, sprawling ice from a roadside lookout.

Some of the largest and oldest rainforests on Earth are found here, in lush and life-filled ecosystems that stretch from the coastal edge to inland valleys.

Among the most significant is the Great Bear Rainforest in The Infinite Coast, which encompasses 6.4 million hectares of old-growth forest, representing a quarter of the world’s remaining ancient coastal temperate rainforests. Here, thousand-year-old red cedars rise beside Sitka spruce reaching 90 metres high into the sky.

Many First Nations and stewardship groups work together to care for this globally rare place, guided by generations of knowledge and responsibility. These forests and coastlines share space with all manner of plants and fungi, grizzlies, eagles, wolves, and orcas . They also shelter the elusive Spirit bear—known as moksgm’ol in the Tsimshian language—a white-furred black bear that appears only on its own terms. Still, the forests of BC share their magic in so many other ways.

In BC, waterways move through landscapes, nourish forests, connect communities and inspire stories. BC’s thousands of lakes, rivers and waterfalls invite stillness in some places, or offer a powerful current in others.

One striking example of nature’s power is Helmcken Falls. Here, the Murtle River plunges into a volcanic amphitheatre in Wells Gray Provincial Park, along the Rainforest to Rockies route. Dozens of other cascades can be found in the Park, tumbling through valleys or thundering down sheer cliffs. Each one is a reminder of water’s force.

In Nature’s Heartland, the Fraser River winds through grasslands and canyons with steady power. Farther north, The Great Wilderness is traced with immense waterways like the Skeena, Peace, Liard and Stikine Rivers, each with deep significance to First Nations communities, carving their own paths through the land. In the Birthplace of Adventure, the mighty Columbia River invites travellers to follow its flow.

And across the province, lakes also deserve a spotlight, inviting fishing, camping, boating and quiet mornings, as well as the kind of pause you didn’t know you needed.

There are a remarkable mix of creatures living here, including those found nowhere else in the world. For many First Nations and Indigenous Peoples, animals are more than wildlife, they’re kin. Their presence carries meaning, wisdom, and connection, deeply woven into their stories and ways of life.

Some, like the spirit bear and coastal sea wolves that live within the Great Bear Rainforest, are protected for their rarity and cultural importance. Others, such as the critically endangered Vancouver Island marmot or the ancient white sturgeon of the Fraser River, have made it this far thanks to the care of First Nations and local conservationists. Orcas cruise the coast in distinct family pods and can be seen year-round, depending on the region. Near Squamish, Brackendale sees one of North America’s largest gatherings of bald eagles each winter, when hundreds arrive to feed.

At the centre of it all is salmon. These migratory fish are essential to ecosystems and people alike. Salmon are hugely important—and along rivers like the Fraser, millions return each year to spawn, feeding more than 130 species, nourishing forests, and bringing life full circle.

While many of these animals are rarely seen—and best left undisturbed—a journey along Rainforest to Rockies or along The Infinite Coast and into The Great Wilderness offer a good chance to encounter wildlife in ways that respect their space. If you roam with them, don’t get close, tread gently, and let the moment lead.

Across BC, naturally heated mineral springs rise from deep underground—soothing waters that invite rest and renewal. In some First Nations, they are known as spirit waters, respected as places of ceremony, healing, and quiet reflection, often found near communities where people have gathered for generations.

In the Birthplace of Adventure, springs like Ainsworth, Radium, Fairmont, Nakusp, and Halcyon offer welcome pauses on any journey and range from polished pools to more forested spaces. At Ainsworth Hot Springs, steamy mineral waters flow through a natural cave before reaching the lakeside pool outside—a one-of-a-kind place to soak.

Farther north in The Great Wilderness, the waters of Liard River Hot Springs—Canada’s largest natural hot spring—are of national ecological significance. A long boardwalk winds through warm water swamps and boreal forest to this year-round oasis. Along the Ḵ’alii-Aksim Lisims (Nass River), Hlgu Isgwit Hot Springs (Aiyansh) offers a tranquil place to unwind. It is also a sacred site for the Nisg̱a’a Nation, and visitors are asked to come with care and quiet respect.