6 wild experiences in Canada’s British Columbia

It’s impossible to resist the call of the wild in British Columbia. This Canadian province on the Pacific has a 17,000-mile coastline lined with mountainous fjords and studded with around 6,000 islands, most of which are uninhabited. Rainforest-fringed shores rise sharply to jagged peaks, home to Canada’s largest population of grizzlies. Take it all in with floatplane flightseeing, high-altitude hiking, remote kayaking and overnights at wilderness lodges built on Indigenous lands.

1. Take off in a floatplane

Hop aboard a Harbour Air floatplane and let the Pacific Ocean be your runway. Following a remote mail route of yesteryear, a classic De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver will carry you low over BC’s Gulf Islands — scattered between the mainland and Vancouver Island — and coastal communities. Three-hour flights take off from Vancouver and call into Maple Bay and Salt Spring Island in the Strait of Georgia.

How to do it: Harbour Air offers flights from C$257 (£144) per person.

2. Night kayak into bioluminescent waters

Witness the marine life of the Sechelt Inlet glow on a night kayak. You’ll learn about one of Earth’s largest mass migrations, which sees billions of small fish and microscopic plankton head up from the depths to feed at the surface. Here, 125 miles north of Vancouver, they produce a compound that emits light, creating a natural display.

How to do it: Three-hour guided tours from Egmont with Matta Eco Experiences from C$130 (£73).

3. Go lift-hiking in the Rockies

British Columbia’s ski resorts double as summer playgrounds, with chairlifts taking trekkers up to sky-scraping trailheads. In the Kootenay Rockies, Fernie Alpine Resort has lifts rising to 6,890ft. Hikes range from easy, one-hour loops through old-growth forest to the challenging six-hour Polar Ridge Walk, with 360-degree views across Rocky Mountain terrain, home to bears, moose, bobcats and wolves.

How to do it: Guided half-day hikes with the local tourist board cost from C$241 (£135) for two.

4. Conquer the ultimate via ferrata

Clip in for an adventure on Mount Nimbus’s via ferrata, one of North America’s longest and highest, with iron rungs at 3,281ft and a 196ft-long steel-rope suspension bridge. It’s accessible from Bobbie Burns, a wilderness lodge in the Rockies complete with a fine-dining restaurant. From here, BC’s backcountry is all yours to explore.

How to do it: Four days from C$4,495 (£2,519) per person, including full-board lodging, daily heli-excursions and transport.

5. Horse-ride in the Muskwa-Kechika

Welcome to British Columbia’s northernmost reaches: the Muskwa-Kechika Management Area, 6.4 million hectares of wetlands, folded mountains, glaciers, hot springs and waterfalls. Nicknamed ‘Serengeti of the North’, it’s home to black and grizzly bears (the Cree word maskwa means ‘bear’), moose and mountain goats. Discover it on guided horseback tours, riding beneath hoodos (tall, thin stratovolcanoes) in the territory of the Kaska Dena, Treaty 8 and Carrier-Sekani peoples.

How to do it: Overnights at Northern Rockies Lodge from CAN$240 (£132), room only. Bespoke activities organised via Muskwa-Kechika Adventures.

6. Ride the rapids on ‘Grizzly River’

Paddle along the Babine River spotting bald eagles, catching fish and goggling at grizzlies feeding on salmon. Home to some of the world’s largest wild steelheads and rainbow trouts, this waterway in British Columbia’s remote north is a smorgasbord for bears, with narrow canyons and thickly forested banks making for exceptional wildlife watching. And with sections of challenging grade 4 rapids to navigate, the big mammals aren’t the only excitement.

How to do it: Six days with Canadian Outback Rafting costs from C$3,999 (£2,240) per person, including full-board camping, guides, all kit, park permits and transfers from the town of Smithers.