48 hours of winter fun in Quesnel

Rebecca Bollwitt

Hikes at Pinnacles Provincial Park, a stroll on the Riverwalk, a concert at the Occidental, a cup of coffee at Granville’s or a pint of craft beer at Barkerville Brewing. I recently found out that while I enjoyed these activities in Quesnel last summer, you can do all of this and even more during the winter.

Dive into incredible outdoor recreation while visiting the city of Quesnel

“If there was a big dump of snow, you might want to bring snowshoes,” videographer and SnowSeekers correspondent Chris Wheeler told me about his time at Pinnacles last winter. “It’s pretty cool to see the hoodoos in the snow, and the view of Quesnel from there.”

Chris produced this awesome video for the #SkiNorthBC expedition, that features some of the best winter activities in Quesnel.

Watch Quesnel #SkiNorthBC on YouTube.

“Hallis Lake Nordic Skiing is awesome for cross-country, and it has a cool lodge to gear up in,” he adds. “You can also snowshoe on most of the lakes in the area once everything is frozen over.”

Quesnel snowshoe
Photo: Mike Bednar

That’s one thing I noticed during my summer visit, when I took to the skies with the team from the Quesnel SkyFest: There are a lot of lakes! In the winter, that means a lot of opportunities for ice skating too, and there’s nothing like skating in the open air, surrounding by snow-dusted trees.

Chris suggests that your first stop should be at the Quesnel Visitor Centre, which has all the information you’ll need to plan your stay. It’s also right next to the Quesnel Museum, one of my favourite places to explore.

Quesnel downtown
Photo: Dax Justin

Downtown, you’ll find everything from places to get great local eats, to shops that rent winter gear, so you can pack light and pick up your snowshoes, skis, and more in town.

Speaking of skiing, Troll Ski Area is just 48 kms away. It’s a family-friendly mountain where owners Hildur and Len Sinclair live by the philosophy: “Keep skiing, or you’ll get old!”

If you go

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