With a total land area of nearly 360,000 square miles, and most of it rugged alpine country, hiking tours of British Columbia are plentiful and diverse. British Columbia also has a population density of fewer than five inhabitants per square kilometer as the majority of the province’s 4.5 million inhabitants live in the metro areas of Vancouver and Victoria.  With this kind of open space, you will locate solitude and undeveloped vistas that in many cases have been rarely explored on foot by Europeans and a strong understanding of B.C.’s motto, “Splendor Without Diminishment”.

Canada’s department of ecology, Environment Canada, has categorized British Columbia into six distinct ecological zones, each of which presents hikers a unique experience. Of course, as hiking and other kinds of outdoor recreation has grown in popularity, so have the number of vacation rentals and Canada bed breakfasts throughout the province. Lodgings at a range of rates from as low as $24 (CDN) per night might be located in even the most secluded areas.

If you are interested in an all inclusive resort that is really a pampering experience, consider Cathedral Lakes Lodge near Penticton in south-central British Columbia.  Hiking trails at 7000 foot elevations can lead you to any one of seven pristine mountain lakes where the trout fishing is superb.

Ecotourism is just one interesting hiking opportunity that is broadly accessible in British Columbia. These are excursions, usually taken on foot, in which people have the occasion to travel to many of the more ecologically susceptible regions including the coastal clement rainforests that stretch from the Alaskan panhandle to northern California and the delicate sub-arctic taiga and boreal plains.

Sponsored by the province’s municipal governments and non-profit organizations, these ecotours are handled in a way so that participants leave a minimal affect on the region while having a chance to enjoy indigenous flora and fauna in a natural state. Because so much of British Columbia is uninhabited by humans, hikers will have a chance to see many sorts of wildlife that have become rare in the more heavily populated U.S.

If you are scouting for a change from hiking in British Columbia’s picturesque mountain country from one of the areas cabin rentals, you should also consider agritourism. As is the case in Washington and Oregon to the south, British Columbia is an important agricultural center, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of the province.  Agritours give hikers a chance to observe and even take part in the workings of sustainable farms in a few of Canada’s most diverse farmlands.
 

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