CENTRAL BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 509

PLANNING YOUR TIME
Planning how to spend your time in central British Columbia has as much to do with in-
tegrating the region with the rest of your itinerary as it does with trying to work out how
to hit all the highlights. The main route through the region is the east-west Trans-Canada
Highway, which runs from Golden to Kamloops and on to Vancouver. This can easily be
traveled in one day, but with two national parks and a string of interesting towns en route,
the trip calls for at least one overnight stop (Revelstoke is a good choice). Even if you're
in a hurry, detour along the Meadows in the Sky Parkway in Mount Revelstoke National
Park. The region's biggest city is Kamloops, from where highways lead in four directions.
Hands down, the most scenic is Highway 5 north to Mount Robson Provincial Park, from
where the choices are to head northwest to Prince George (northern British Columbia) or
east to Jasper National Park and then south through to Banff. If you drive far enough north
along Highway 97 from Kamloops, you'll reach Prince George. A good way to kick off the
long drive north is with a stop at Historic Hat Creek Ranch, where buildings from the
Cariboo Gold Rush still stand.