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Day at the Ancient Forests

Ancient Forest Trails

By: Lauren Verity + Save to a List

So last summer Devon and I decided to make the trek to the Ancient Forests with my dog. The drive felt like forever, even though coming from Prince George it really wasn't all that far. I can't believe I've lived here for 15 years and never once have come here. The night before we head out we went to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and drinks since we planned to make a day of it.  We went in the middle of the week so most people are either at work or in school (which technically we should be too...but ew...calculus and physics on a beautiful summer day? Hard pass) but anyways the trails were pretty clear besides the occasional group. When we got there the parking lot was awful, or maybe Devon was just bad at parking..who's knows, but since then the lot has been redone and it's much nicer. So we grab all our gear and head into the Forest. It was kind of eerie being all alone at first but my dog didn't seem to concerned so we were probably fine. No bears or anything. We hiked the whole loop all the way up to the giant tree which was super cool!!! The hike was so breathtaking and the trees around us were beautiful. There's this section called the "cedar circle" where you look into the sky and you just see an opening and in a big circle are the tops of the cedar trees. Definitely a highlight for me. We decided to then go to the waterfalls so we head back our along the trails following what seemed to be the right direction on the maps posted around but i was like "devon...why would we head back towards the parking lot..shouldn't we be going UP further Into the mountains" so we stopped at the next map to check and we realized we read the entire thing wrong BUT there was a shortcut coming up. WELL LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING.... this "shortcut" was straight uphill. No gradual inclination. Just up. And it took forever. I thought I was going to pass out. But Devon was looking fine so I acted like it was all cool meanwhile I'm dying inside. We FINALLY get to the top and the rest of the trail was smooth sailing. Once we got to the falls it was totally worth it. We filled our water bottles up in the fresh water and it was so good and much needed. My dog slipped on the bridge and gave me a little scare but it was all good. After taking numerous photos here we started to head backdown to go check out the lookout (where we met a cute dog named snowball). We stopped and had some lunch at the lookout and then went back to the vehicle. We spent most of the day here but we had a long drive back to town so we called it a day. This trail is definitely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone. 

We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on. Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

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