British Columbia readers are casting votes through August in a bracket-style tournament to determine the province’s best roadside attraction, facing regional finalists against each other ahead of a Labour Day champion crowning.
Summer traditions across British Columbia have previously crowned the province’s top small town, lake, and symbol. Now, CBC British Columbia is turning its attention to the concrete, natural, and historical monuments that flank the province’s highways and byways in the Search for B.C.’s Best Roadside Attraction. Voting runs every week in August from Monday to Thursday, covering one distinct region on each voting day, with a provincial champion set to emerge before Labour Day.
Southwest Titans Clash in Regional Finals
In the Southwest B.C. bracket, two heavyweights of natural tourism are battling for regional supremacy. Just two kilometres south of Squamish off the Sea-to-Sky Highway, Shannon Falls sends gushing water thundering down a cliff taller than the Eiffel Tower. Visitors can observe the geological spectacle from the picnic area or while driving past.
Challenging Shannon Falls in the southwest is the Othello Tunnels, located a 10-minute drive from downtown Hope. There, the Coquihalla River slices through solid granite bedrock. Blasted open with dynamite in 1914, the five tunnels blend natural geography with human engineering.
Both locations represent provincial parks that illustrate an era of auto-tourism, but they share space with a much deeper historical timeline across the province.
Northern Contenders Span Four Different Centuries
North of Williams Lake, the final four entries selected from more than 300 provincial submissions reflect an expansive chronological sweep. Four iconic northern B.C. roadside attractions capture four distinct centuries of history, bridging seismic natural disasters, the gold rush, mid-century civic marketing, and modern resource-town tourism.
The Nisga’a Lava Beds in Nisga’a territory date back to an 18th-century volcanic explosion in the Nass Valley. The eruption permanently altered the local geography and claimed the lives of roughly 2,000 people.
Moving into the 19th century, Barkerville Historic Town preserves the legacy of thousands of gold-seeking miners who flooded east of Quesnel. The half-original and half-reconstructed settlement marks the spot where an Englishman named Billy Barker discovered a massive gold stake. A manager at the site notes that visitors can travel backward in time upon arrival.
From Wooden Mascots to Industrial Geoparks
The 20th and 21st centuries highlight how British Columbia’s economic engines transformed into tourist destinations. Prince George embraced the timber industry by erecting a giant log man mascot named Mr. PG to greet visitors entering the region’s largest city.
Meanwhile, the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark represents a 21st-century shift. Planned resource towns in the Peace region are turning industrial infrastructure into recreational assets. Resource roads have opened access to canyons and waterfalls, creating an expansive hiking trail network.
Public Infrastructure Versus Private Enterprise
According to author Ben Bradley, half of the remaining candidates sit inside provincial parks or historic sites established largely after the Second World War with the rise of the middle class. These publicly backed sites followed earlier private-enterprise attractions launched at the turn of the 20th century.
Bradley argues that government-managed sites hold distinct longevity advantages over their commercial counterparts.
“They don’t have quite as much capacity for persistence as ones that are managed by a government. They have the expertise, they have finances, they have the legal powers to look after a waterfall, to protect a tall stand of timber.”
With voting closing weekly across the province, public park attractions like Shannon Falls and the Othello Tunnels carry institutional backing into the final rounds, while voters decide which landmark best defines British Columbia’s identity.
