Voice of BC's Professional Bed & Breakfast Industry

While downhill skiing and snowboarding get most of the attention, British Columbia also has more than 50 cross-country skiing areas, plus opportunities for snowshoeing, dogsledding, and snowmobiling.

The Kimberly Alpine Resort and the Fernie Alpine Resort in the Kootenay Rockies region, Manning Provincial Park in southern BC, the Callahan Valley at Whistler Blackcomb, as well as the Cariboo Chilcotin region, offer networks of groomed cross-country trails. In Northern BC you’ll find great cross-country opportunities at Hudson Bay Mountain in Smithers, and in Northern BC’s biggest city Prince George, host of the Canada Winter Games this month, the Otway Nordic Ski Centre has a 45 km network of trails for your enjoyment.

BC cross-country skiing

BC cross-country skiing

Want to try something a little different while enjoying the outdoors?  Snowshoeing is becoming a very popular activity in BC and it’s a great workout!  These are not your grandmother’s snowshoes either, but much lighter and more easily maneuverable. Snowshoeing allows you to really enjoy the winter landscape you’re passing through, as you’re not going at the same speeds as skiing of course. Vancouver’s Cypress Mountain, Manning Park’s Lightning Lake Loop, and Yoho National Park are great choices, while Kimberly’s Alpine Resort offers an evening of snowshoeing and chocolate fondue at their Kootenay Fondue Tour!  Yum, that sounds like an awesome combination!

Is snowmobiling or dogsledding more your speed?  There are more than 70 snowmobiling clubs in British Columbia which maintain networks of trails for their members.  You can take groomed trails or if you’re a more experienced sledder find more powder and steeper areas, always keeping in mind that you’ve got to stay safe! If you’re an animal lover as well as an outdoors enthusiast, you might enjoy dogsledding.  Let a driver run the sled for you, or learn how to do it yourself.  What a great experience to glide through a silent and snow-covered landscape, disturbed only by the yapping of the dogs and your commands!

BC dogsledding through the snow!

BC dogsledding through the snow!

With winter snow around for a good part of the year, why not get out and about and enjoy it? Wherever you go and whatever activity you chose, book your stay at a BC Bed & Breakfast as your local innkeeper will have all the information you need, and will know all the best places to go, so you’ll get maximum enjoyment out of your BC winter vacation!