BEAUTIFUL BEER RUN
Northern B.C.'S ale trail offers scenery, history and stellar suds
If there's a section of the Trans-canada Highway that's more Canadian, I haven't seen it.
I'm on the northern route of the national highway, travelling a section also known as the Yellowhead Highway from the northern B.C. city of Prince George to Prince Rupert on Kaien Island.
Along the route are trails through an ancient forest, mountain vistas, float plane jaunts, a town filled with Indigenous-themed murals and an abandoned fish cannery restored for tours and overnight stays. Celebrating it all is a route of top-notch craft breweries that collectively form the 700-kilometre northwest B.C. ale trail stretching from Prince George to Prince Rupert.
Here's what awaits.
PRINCE GEORGE
Chun T'oh Whudujut/ancient Forest: Located 120 km from Prince George on the traditional territory of the Lheidli T'enneh, it's the only inland temperate rainforest in the world. It's also B.C.'S newest provincial park and has a 450-metre boardwalk to make it accessible to all. The boardwalk was officially opened by Rick Hansen, the Man in Motion. Look up, there are 1,000-year-old western red cedars. Look down, there's a rich biodiversity of fungi, lichens and mosses. Even off the boardwalk, the trails are easy and family-friendly.
On the ale trail: Prince George has three craft breweries, each with distinct personalities. Easiest to find is Crossroads Brewery and Distillery located downtown in an old car dealership. Trench Brewing and Distilling is named for the Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks. Trench has a big, lively tasting room with communal tables. The newest is Deadfall Brewery, opened by local professors Erin and Brandon Baerwald and partners, including their chill borzoi, a dog breed originally from Russia, which greets guests.
BURNS LAKE
Fly fishing: Most times, Lakes District Air of Burns Lakes fires up a vintage float plane to take tourists to fly-in fishing spots famous for char and rainbow trout, remote hiking areas or backcountry skiing. In our case, we shoehorned into a 1949 de Havilland Beaver — No. 51 of 1,657 built in Toronto — to Ursa Minor, a rustic farm brewery opened by Nathan and Gwyn Nicholas in 2020. Most thirsty guests arrive by a combination of a free ferry and cars. I saw a group of women arriving by bicycle. Either way, the epic journey is worth it to experience the most Canadian of craft breweries. Nathan has so far brewed 11 different recipes in tiny batches and Gwyn's housemade smoked salmon chowder is to die for.
SMITHERS
Mountains and market: Smithers is a big biking town, from mountain courses for experts to routes for recreational cyclists. In season, the Bulkley Valley farmers market sells the best of local produce, meats and baking. There's a surprising food scene, led by the generically named Roadhouse with its menu of international comfort foods and B.C. wines. In winter, recreation turns to skiing and lines less competitive than in better-known resort towns.
On the ale trail: There's two to do in this town, where the holy trinity of personalities, as described to me by a local, is “rednecks, hippies and the religious.” The breweries offer different vibes. Bulkley Valley Brewing is ski-themed with roll-up garage doors and a view of Hudson Bay mountain. Tap handles made from bicycle parts pay homage to the top summertime draw. Smithers Brewing is a beautiful space of timber-framed construction where the 10 taps include brews such as Flower Power, a kettle sour brewed with hibiscus, rosehips, camomile and elderflower. Smithers Brewing's lager is Last Cast, made with water adjusted to match that found in Munich, Germany.
TERRACE
Art you glad: Murals with a salmon theme make downtown Terrace a colourful — and very Instagramable — place to be. Indigenous-themed murals feature the northwest coast formline, a salmon head shape. Most of the public art is thanks to the Skeena Salmon Arts Festival Society, a First Nations arts collective. Look for examples of “trompe-l'oeil” (French for “deceive the eye”) creating the illusion the art is three-dimensional and don't miss a massive work on Park Avenue featuring two Steller's jays, one in stylized realism and the other in traditional northwest coast formline, for a mythical lesson in fearlessness and survival.
On the ale trail: Sherwood Mountain Brewhouse's owner Darryl Tucker and brewer Jake Lambert both trained in Germany, and brought their passion for German-style lagers home to a receptive clientele. The lager-focused beer board takes to heart the sage advice, “brew a beer people will want to drink, otherwise you'll have lots of beer and no job.”
PRINCE RUPERT
Fish tales: North Pacific Cannery, a National Historic Site, is a must to experience for its stories of early commercialization of fishing and what was done to send canned salmon to your great grandmother's kitchen. A cannery operating in the 19th and 20th centuries at the mouth of the Skeena River, it's a cluster of wooden structures linked by a boardwalk. Insightful tours provide a window into the pecking order people were placed in during the operation's heyday and the environmental liberties taken. Guides and displays explain fishing methods, canning processes and the three tiers of living conditions. There's also a coin-operated model railway. In the workers' old living quarters, there's a purported haunted room that can be rented. A popular event venue, the North Pacific Cannery is one of the most photographed attractions in the region.
On the ale trail: Wheelhouse Brewing is preparing to move out of its original location and into the city's old passenger rail station, which had been a vacant eyesore for years until renovations began for the brewery. The move is scheduled for fall 2022. Meanwhile, the brewery is open at its original location near the deep-sea port.
Along the route are trails through an ancient forest, mountain vistas, float plane jaunts, a town filled with Indigenous-themed murals and an abandoned fish cannery restored for tours and overnight stays. Celebrating it all is a route of top-notch craft breweries. Wayne Newton