British Columbia 2018 :: Activities and Places to Go

Activities and Places to Go

Deep Cove

Deep Cove is a little slice of heaven! I absolutely adored my quiet morning exploring there. I would love to go back! For a full recap of my morning in Deep Cove, click here.

Capillano Suspension Bridge

Capillano Suspension Bridge was pretty cool, although not nearly as death-defying as I had envisioned. It was basically just a busy tourist attraction. They did a lot of awesome work keeping up the grounds, and the tree top experience was really cool. My kids would have LOVED it! It was really expensive, but I do feel worth doing once. Granted, it would only be a half day kind of experience, and I felt like I saw enough after just a couple hours. For a full recap, click here!

Willow Stream Day Spa

The spa was incredible, and I would HIGHLY recommend it! Keep in mind that the cost for parking is crazy high, since it's in downtown Vancouver, and also that you can enjoy the spa ammenities with purchasing even a small package or treatment. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably just get the basic treatment (I did a facial) and then relax in the hot tub (bring your swimsuit) on the gorgeous rooftop lounge area. Oh, and show up at least an hour early. For a full recap, click here!

Baden Powell Trail and Quarry Rock

The long story short is that I ended up hiking a significant portion of the full Baden Powell Trail by accident, but it was really beautiful, and I would do it again! The hike to Quarry Rock should have been significantly shorter, and the view was awesome, although not quite as awesome as the view from Bliss Cottage. For a full recap, click here!

Whistler

Whistler was absolutely beautiful, and a really fun way to spend a day. There is something for everyone in Whistler, and a really fun place to be by yourself or with a huge group. The people watching is awesome, and the little village is so fun! For a full recap of my afternoon in Whistler, click here!

Sea to Sky Highway

This drive is a MUST! This two hour stretch of mountainous road between Vancouver and Whistler is absolutely stunning. It took my breath away and left me with goosebumps numerous times. Our God is so incredible, and it was absolutely magnificent! The stops along the way back that I took included Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls, a random pull over on the side of the road in Squamish, Porteau Cove and Horseshoe Bay. For a full recap of this drive and my stops, click here!

Sea to Sky Highway :: British Columbia 2018

There really wasn't a "bad" excursion on my whole trip, but the Sea to Sky Highway was by far one of my very favorite parts of my trip! It was absolutely stunning. It took my breath away. I want to go back today. I opted not to stop much at all on the way up to Whistler, but let's just say that the drive back FROM Whistler took me 4 hours, so yeah - I stopped. A LOT. I'm going to break down my Sea to Sky Highway experience down to my stops so that it breaks the beauty up a bit ;) Highlights, however, were Brandywine Falls, Shannon Falls, a random pull over on the side of the road in Squamish, Porteau Cove and Horseshoe Bay.

Brandywine Falls

It was raining fairly steadily when I stopped at Brandywine Falls, so I was thankful that I had snatched up an umbrella from the place I stayed at on my trip. I enjoyed that it was a short walk, as I had sandals on (rainboots would have been nice!) and

The falls were incredible, and I certainly wasn't expecting them to be quite THAT incredible. But going just a short jaunt further, the view literally stopped me in my tracks and took my breath away. The cool thing about going to check them out in the steady rain was that not many other people decided to also go out in the rain, so I had the whole view to myself, and it was just...there are no words.

Tauntalus Lookout

There weren't nearly as many of these little lookouts along the way as I felt there should be. I feel like while the views were incredible, there were even MORE incredible views that I had to just drive right on by and there was nowhere to stop and take it in, so while my jaw was dropped and I felt like I wanted to just sit there in awe and wonder, I had to also still drive on a windy mountain road and not drive off the cliff, so I had to just pass them by. This lookout was just a very, very small taste of how beautiful it is.

Shannon Falls

Shannon Falls was a lot busier than Brandywine Falls, probably partially on account of it not raining anymore, but also on account of it actually having a little gift shop and being more spread out. It wasn't nearly as easy to snap a picture of the falls, as it was more covered by trees, but through the trees, it was easier to see in person.

Squamish stop

Technically, this was two stops, but I'm going to combine it into one. The first stop was just a slam on my brakes at the last second stop as I was coming into Squamish. It was just such a breathtaking view right there on the side of the road that I had to stop. I didn't stay long here, maybe 10 minutes, but as the photos show, it was totally worth the quick pull over. It made me want to move to Squamish, considering this is just commonplace there.

The second stop, however, I stayed for more like half an hour. I had to sorta jump down this cliff (after checking to make sure there was a safe way to climb back up), and it was just full of driftwood and

Porteau Cove

Porteau Cove may have been my favorite stop of the entire trip. It was busier than most of the other stops, but so spread out that it felt like I was the only person there. It was just so...quiet. It sounded...hollow, for lack of better words. The sounds of the sea were amplifie.

Horseshoe Bay

I would never have made this stop, but it was getting closer and closer to sunset, and I was just really wanting to get a beautiful picture of the sunset with an incredible backdrop, so I kept trying to decide where I needed to stop in order to get a really neat sunset picture. Well...I didn't have enough patience to actually stick around long enough, as I was still a jaunt from the cottage I was staying at near Deep Cove, and they had invited me to dinner. Still, I was glad to have stopped here! There wasn't much to it, but I would have enjoyed meandering a little longer. It was just your typical little town, however. It looked like there was a small cruise ship docked there. It would've been a neat little town to stay in, close to Vancouver, along the Sea to Sky Highway, and with this beautiful view!

I WILL be back to tackle the Sea to Sky Highway again, most definitely. I'd like to stay along the shoreline in a little cottage somewhere and just really soak in the immensity that is there. It's so astoundingly beautiful! It's hard to imagine without actually being there, but you feel so alive and so tiny and just...free. I'd love to feel that feeling every single day.