British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, forests, lakes, mountains, inland deserts and grassy plains. British Columbia borders the province of Alberta to the east; the territories of Yukon and Northwest Territories to the north; the U.S. states of Washington, Idaho and Montana to the south, and Alaska to the northwest. With an estimated population of over 5.6 million as of 2024, it is Canada's third-most populous province. The capital of British Columbia is Victoria, while the province's largest city is Vancouver. Vancouver and its suburbs together make up the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, with the 2021 census recording 2.6 million people in Metro Vancouver. British Columbia is Canada's third-largest province in terms of total area, after Quebec and Ontario.
The North Shore Mountains are a mountain range overlooking Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. Their southernmost peaks are visible from most areas in Vancouver and form a distinctive backdrop for the city.
Big Bunsby Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park on the west coast of northern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, to the southeast of the Brooks Peninsula in Checleset Bay. It is accessible only by boat.
Gibson Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located on the southeast end of Flores Island in the central Clayoquot Sound region of Vancouver Island. The park was created on 13 November 1967. It contains approximately 143 hectares and is adjacent to Flores Island Provincial Park.
Rugged Point Marine Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located at the southeast entrance to Kyuquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. It is remote and largely visited by kayakers.
Schoen Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in northeastern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located east of the community of Woss Lake and southwest of Sayward. The park lies inside the Nimpkish Valley watershed. On October 28, 1977, the "Class A" park was officially created to protect, exhibit and interpret an example of the natural features and processes of the Insular Mountains Natural Region. The park covers a total area of 8,775 hectares. Within those hectares of park land is a number of lakes, creeks and mountain ranges.
Strathcona Provincial Park is the oldest provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, and the largest on Vancouver Island. Founded in 1911, the park was named for Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, a wealthy philanthropist and railway pioneer. It lies within the Strathcona Regional District. The Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve, established in 2000, includes three watersheds in the western area of the park.
Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 in the western interior of the province, to protect its important natural features. The park hosts a variety of recreation activities for visitors. This park encompasses a range of diverse species in this park including bears, moose, and various fish. There are also a few at risk species in this park.
BC Parks is an agency of the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy that manages all of the, as of 2020, 1,035 provincial parks and other conservation and historical properties of various title designations within the province's Parks oversaw of the British Columbia Parks and Protected Areas System. The Lieutenant Governor-in-Council created the agency on March 1, 1911, through the Strathcona Park Act. The agency is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management, while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.
Buttle Lake is a lake on Vancouver Island in Strathcona Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is about 23 kilometres (14 mi) long and 1.5 kilometres (0.9 mi) wide, has an area of 28 square kilometres (11 sq mi), is up to 120 metres (394 ft) deep, and lies at an elevation of 221 metres (725 ft). The lake is located between Campbell River and Gold River in Strathcona Provincial Park. The lake is the headwaters of the Campbell River.
Cultus Lake is a lake, associated community and provincial park in the Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada. It is the source of the Sweltzer River. Cultus Lake is located 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) south of the Chilliwack River, near the city of Chilliwack and approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Vancouver. In 1950, Cultus Lake became a provincial park of British Columbia. Cultus Lake covers an area of 656 hectares, evenly on either side of the lake. At one time the lake had a sawmill and booming ground until it became a provincial park in the 1950s.
The Vancouver Island Ranges, formerly called the Vancouver Island Mountains, are a series of mountain ranges extending along the length of Vancouver Island which has an area of 31,788 km2 (12,273 sq mi). The Vancouver Island Ranges comprise the central and largest part of the island. The Geological Survey of Canada refers to Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, and the Alaska Panhandle as the Insular Belt including the sea floor out to 100 km (62 mi) west of Vancouver Island. The Vancouver Island Ranges are a sub-range of the Insular Mountains.
The Insular Mountains are a range of mountains in the Pacific Coast Ranges on the Coast of British Columbia, Canada, comprising the Vancouver Island Ranges and Queen Charlotte Mountains. The Insular Mountains are rugged, particularly on Vancouver Island where peaks in Strathcona Provincial Park rise to elevations of more than 2,000 m (6,562 ft). The highest of these mountains is Golden Hinde on Vancouver Island, which rises to 2,196.818 m (7,207 ft).
Kyuquot Sound is a complex of coastal inlets, bays and islands on northwestern Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The Tsawwassen First Nation is a First Nations government whose lands are located in the Greater Vancouver area of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, close to the South Arm of the Fraser River and just north of the international boundary with the United States at Point Roberts, Washington. Tsawwassen First Nation lists its membership at 491 people, nearly half of whom live on the lands.
The Refugium Range is a low, small mountain range comprising the mountains/hills of the Brooks Peninsula on northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It has an area of 239 km2 (92 sq mi) and is a subrange of the Vancouver Island Ranges which in turn form part of the Insular Mountains. The range was named in 1981 by an expedition which found that peaks higher than 700 m (2,300 ft) were above the glaciers during the last ice age and are therefore a refugium with unique plants.
Kyuquot is an unincorporated settlement and First Nations community located on Kyuquot Sound on northwestern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Meaning people of Kayukw in the Nuu-chah-nulth language, it is partly the community of the Kyuquot and Cheklesahht peoples, whose band government is the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht First Nation. The site of Kayukw, the original village of the Kyuquot people, is nearby in the form of Kayouk Indian Reserve No. 8, adjacent to which are Kayouk Bluff and Kayouk Creek. The original village site of the Cheklesahht people is the Checkaklis Island Indian Reserve 9 on the island of the same name in the Bunsby Islands in Checleset Bay, which is named for the people, whose name means "people of Checkaklis".
Mount Seymour Provincial Park is a park in Vancouver, British Columbia's North Shore Mountains. With an area of 35 square kilometres, it is located approximately 15 kilometres north of Downtown Vancouver. The park, named after Frederick Seymour, was established in 1936. Mount Seymour Provincial Park provides visitors with a variety of recreational activities and animals with natural habitat.
Checleset Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located southeast of Brooks Peninsula and northwest of Kyuquot Sound. Much of the land around the bay is part of Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park. Checleset Bay has three large inlets, Nasparti Inlet, Ououkinsh Inlet, and Malksope Inlet.
Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area is a National Wildlife Area off the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Covering an area of 11,570.65 km2 (4,467.45 sq mi), it is the second largest protected area in British Columbia after Offshore Pacific Seamounts and Vents Closure and is the largest national wildlife area in Canada.
