NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 648

Sikanni Chief to Prophet River
The next services are 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) north of Pink Mountain at Sikanni River
Campground (250/772-5400, tents $22, hookups $28-34, cabins $99-119 s or d). Twenty
kilometers (12.5 miles) north from Sikanni Chief you'll pass the small Buckinghorse
River Wayside Provincial Park. The river is alive with arctic grayling, providing the per-
fect meal for campers (no reservations, June-Aug., $16). From here north, a newer, scen-
ic stretch of the highway runs through Minaker River Valley, then parallels the Prophet
River, passing a rustic campground (May-Sept., $14) where a short hiking trail leads down
to the river.
FORT NELSON
At Mile 300 of the Alaska Highway, 454 kilometers (281 miles) north of Dawson Creek,
Fort Nelson (pop. 4,500) is the largest town between Fort St. John and the Yukon. The earli-
est of many trading posts was built here in 1800. Over 200 years later, the town continues
to be a supply center—now for the surrounding forestry, oil, and gas industries.
DIGGING UP THE PAST
Overlooking Charlie Lake is Charlie Lake Cave, where buffalo bones and artifacts
such as stone tools, a fluted basalt spear point, and a handmade stone bead have been
discovered. Hunters may have hid there while chasing buffalo. Dated at 10,500 years
old, this is the oldest such site discovered on the continent, leading archaeologists to
postulate that this area was one of the earliest North American sites occupied by hu-
mans.
During the period of earliest occupation, Charlie Lake was a much larger body of
water, an enormous ice-dammed lake where larger mammals were common. In the
ensuing centuries, silt has built up on the floor of the cave, decreasing its original
size.
The cave is on private property. Although access is not possible, a display in the
Fort St. John-North Peace Museum tells the story of the cave dwellers and the ar-
chaeologists who excavated the site.