AAA Traveler - Winter 2020 - 22

SCENIC ROUTE

Touch the Sea

Kiss The Sky

The scenic best of British Columbia comes together on
this road trip between Vancouver and Whistler.
Story By Amity Moore Joyce. Illustration By James McInvale.
Just a few miles into the drive and
it's easy to see why locals and visitors
alike beeline for BC Highway 99,
better known as the Sea to Sky
Highway. Almost immediately upon
leaving Vancouver, the scenic beauty
begins, with vast Howe Sound on
the left and the coastal temperate
rainforest seemingly riding shotgun.
You could simply drive the two
(traffic-dependent) hours to Squamish
and on to Whistler for a summary of
the gorgeous journey. Or, you could
turn the two hours into two days,
maybe more, to delve into what's
hidden in the forest, what else rises
among the mountains and what can
be found near the water's edge.
Brave the Bridge
The awesome views never end.
Additionally, the year-round
route offers manmade attractions
that seamlessly intermingle with
the natural ones. Before leaving
Vancouver, for example, stop at
Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
in North Vancouver. A modern,
steel-cable suspension bridge hangs
where the original hemp rope-andcedar plank footbridge first spanned
the canyon in 1889. Walk the 450
feet across and dare to look 230 feet
down to the Capilano River. The
park's newest attraction, Cliffwalk,

is a series of narrow, suspended
cantilever walkways jutting out from
granite cliffs and winding through
the rainforest.
Pull over again outside West
Vancouver at Whytecliff Park, an
easy detour off Highway 99 with
walking trails, swimming and views
of the Strait of Georgia. From the
park's rocky shores, you might spy
any of the more than 200 marine
animal species that live in the park
- one of Canada's first marine
protected areas.
For the next 20 miles, the highway
curves around tall cliffs, its two to
four lanes sandwiched between the
water and the land. In recognition
of the region's First Nations, the
road signs are in both Squamish and
English. To learn more about
the indigenous people, look for
Cultural Journey interpretive
kiosks, designed in the shape of
woven cedar-bark hats. The first
one is near Horseshoe Bay.
Mining History
By now, mountains pierce the
horizon, adding another photoworthy element to the picturesque
scene unfolding beyond the
windshield. The area feels wild,
despite the developed road and
pockets of civilization off its exits.

It has long attracted fortune seekers and
explorers. And fortunes certainly were
made as a stop at Britannia Beach, site of
the Britannia Mine Museum, a National
Historic site, attests. Get acquainted with
what was once the largest copper producer
in the British Empire by browsing exhibits
or boarding a mining train and chugging
into a tunnel to experience the same
darkness early miners faced. Boom!, a
multi-sensory attraction, teaches about the
site's original innerworkings by recreating
its sights, sounds and smells.
Outdoor recreation, notably hiking,
skiing and mountain biking, defines
British Columbia, and the Sea to Sky
Highway leads to them all.
AAA Traveler - Winter 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AAA Traveler - Winter 2020
