Northern British Columbia provides some of the most remote and beautiful backcountry available to outdoor adventurers anywhere in the world. There are only two road access routes into the vast wilderness of the north; The Stewart-Cassiar Highway 37 in northwest BC, and the Alaska Highway 97 in northeast BC. Communities along these highways provide access into the wilderness, by floatplane, boat, horseback, all-terrain vehicle, or by foot.
The Rocky Mountains cut a vast swath across the northern half of British Columbia. The Rocky Mountains and their foothills dominate the Northeast, comprising roughly 20 million acres (8 million hectares). There are no roads that cross the range north of Pine Pass (between Mackenzie and Chetwynd) until the Yukon border. The Northern Rocky Mountains are the largest roadless landscape south of the 60th parallel, as well as one of the richest and most varied intact large wildlife ecosystems remaining in North America. The area’s wildlife population is so prolific that this portion of the Northern Rockies has been dubbed the Serengeti of North America.
In the vast, highwayless gulf between the Alaska Highway, which begins in Dawson Creek at Mile 0, and Highway 37 to the west is an area that at its most expansive is 700 km wide and 1,200 km long. To put that in perspective, you could drop Switzerland into this region and not have road access. This is big country. Most people don’t venture more than a few miles off paved road. Some never make it off pavement at all, but if you do, a world of recreational opportunities awaits, whether you’re a weekend adventurer or a trail-hardened explorer. Come prepared, and enjoy the rich and varied wilderness, a place where people are scarce, but the exploits plentiful.
Adventure companies can facilitate your exploration of a lifetime, and river jet boating is one way to discover this massive undeveloped region. Fly-in access is provided from the larger communities along the Alaska Highway to remote rivers like the Turnagain River. In your rented jet boat you can jet to wherever the adventure takes you, you can fish for Arctic grayling in quite pools, hike from the Turnagain River into spectacular mountains, move from wilderness cabin to wilderness cabin, and even ride horses to another cabin on a remote wilderness lake.
