I have finally gathered all of the data and map images for the backroad from Likely, British Columbia to the historic mining town of Barkerville. This 150 kilometer backroad leads through the history rich Cariboo Gold Rush area. This easy backroad can be done in any vehicle including motorhomes and trailers. We travelled this road in the summer of 2006 and it took us about 5 hours to complete including several stops.
One memorable stop was at the Comet Creek Resort, a place that you don’t expect on these types of roads. The unique round cabins are made of local stone and lumber hewn from the surrounding forest. Home made pizza is always being made in the large stone oven of the main lodge. Bring your gold pan as most of the creeks in this area are gold bearing.
The historic town of Barkerville is a gem, expect to spend at least a half a day here. The world famous Bowron Lakes canoe and kayak circuit is just down the road. There is a lot of wildlife in this area so be sure to bring your camera and binoculars.
The supplied GPS data files include track and waypoint information that can be loaded into most if not all topographic and GIS mapping software. Included are ESRI shape files, OziExplorer and Google Earth files. The supplied text files can be uploaded by most other mapping software.
Also included are topo map images with the track and waypoints overlayed. An elevation profile is also included showing the height over distance.
This is the type of information that we include in our two electronic guidebooks on backroad travel in British Columbia. The “Exploring the Backroads of BC” series currently has two volumes. Volume 1 are backroads from Squamish (just north of Vancouver) to Lillooet and volume 2 are the backroads from Vancouver, east to Hope.
As we travel throughout the province we are continually gathering data for future volumes. As some of our trips do not concentrate on all of the backroads of one area we are releasing our GPS data for free until we have enough gathered for another guidebook.
You can download it from here at www.geopath.ca/downloads
We hope you enjoy using the data files we provide. Our only wish is that if you travel in the British Columbia backcountry you treat it with respect.
