Recreation information for the Quesnel and surrounding area. Part two.
Most Quesnel residents may already have some of their favourite biking and walking routes but if your thinking of expanding your hiking routes or are providing information for visitors where should you start looking. I first started at the CRD office in Williams Lake and talked to Kathleen MacDonald who provided me information on their vision of creating a wheelchair accessible trail network in the Cariboo Chilcotin. Since 2006 various community groups have been involved with developing the Cariboo Chilcotin as a world leader in accessible outdoor recreation and tap into niche tourism markets for people of all abilities. To date sixteen accessible trails have been established throughout the Region. The low mobility sites in the Quesnal area are at Barkerville Cemetery, Cottonwood House, Hallis Lake, Sisters Creek (Kersley), Claymine and Stanley. These sites are not only valuable for people in wheel chairs but would also be good for families with young children in strollers. For more information about these trails visit CRD website at cariboord.ca.
My next stop was the Williams Lake Tourism Discovery Centre (WLTDC) where I had previously picked up a variety of pamphlets on areas of interest for the region and the province. My request this time was for information on local hiking, biking and cross country ski trails. Karla Elefson and staff provided me with lots of pamphlets for the entire region including Quesnel and 100 mile and the surrounding communities. For the hiking enthusiasts they also provided instructions for many of the trails listed in the pamphlets including how to get to the trail head and then maps or instructions how to negotiate the tails when there were potential roads and trails that you could get you side tracked. The sites identified around Quesnel were, Bowron Lake, Kluskoil Lake, and Ten Mile lake. Although I have not visited the Tourist information centre in Quesnel, I am sure staff there will provide many other areas of interest.
If you can’t make it downtown you can find a wide variety of options through the internet by searching for “walking and hiking” in Quesnel. You can also find lots of information on line for mountain biking and cross country ski areas and if you like to talk directly to someone, visit Cycle Logic, Keen Sports or Rocky Peak Adventure Gear.