Things To Do
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| Roche de Boule |
55 minutes west of Smithers BC, you'll find Hazelton (also known as New Hazelton) nestled within the Roche de Boule Mountain range along Highway 16.
Just before you reach Hazelton, you'll find a turnoff for Ross Lake Provincial Park. A beautiful place to stop and have a picnic, swim or go for a walk along the trail that surrounds the lake. No overnight camping allowed.
As you pass through town and cross you bridge, you'll find a turnoff on your left that leads to Old Hazelton. At this junction you'll find a tourist information spot. There are public toilets and also a place for RV's to fill up with water.
There is lots of parking in this area. You can get out and stretch your legs.
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| Wikipedia |
Continuing on the road you turned off on will lead you to Hagwilget Bridge. A suspension bridge that crosses over top of the Bulkley River in Hagwilget Canyon. Be advised it is single lane traffic only. There is an area where you can park and walk across the bridge if you feel brave enough.
From here the road takes you to historic Old Hazelton. First passing through Two Mile where you can buy fuel and also stop and shop at the grocery store. Next you'll come across Kispiox Valley Road where you would turn off to go to the Kispiox Valley Grounds for the annual Kispiox Rodeo. Further on leads you to 'Ksan, a historical village and living museum of the Gitxsan Indigenous people in the Skeena.
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| Wikipedia |
Gitxsan (Gitksan), meaning “People of the River Mist,” live along the Skeena River of northwestern British Columbia in the communities of Hazelton, Kispiox and Glen Vowell (the Eastern Gitxsan bands) and Kitwanga, Kitwankool and Kitsegukla (the Western Gitxsan).
The village of Old Hazelton remains much like the original settlement, founded in 1866. A great place to check out. There is even an old paddle wheeler which came up the river from the northwest coast.
Back out on Highway 16 west will lead you to Terrace and Prince Rupert. On your way outside of New Hazelton you will come across Seeley Lake Provincial Park. There are picnic tables and also a place for overnight camping.
The Hazeltons are very beautiful places to take in and explore.
👉There have been a number of Bigfoot sightings in the area, going on for hundreds of years. The creature was once referred to as Katamnkniest, which means Man of the Mountain, and also Bukwas. A giant, hairy wild man. A devil that carried off women and children. People who were taken were never to be found. Bukwas tore the heads off the ancient ones near Damsumlo Lake, stole children who played among the trees, stole fish from the nets and stole caribou from the hanging poles.
In 1866, Kwabellem, a Kuldo native who could speak English, told the Collins Overland Telegraph land surveyor that his grandfather had spoken of these creatures. And that during his grandfather's time, there were more of them around. The land surveyor later came upon these beasts and wrote of his experiences in his journal. G. Stewart Nash shared this in his book, The Last 300 Miles.
There used to be a large rock which had a giant footstep in it that was destroyed during the construction of the highway. For many years, Bigfoot encounters have occurred along Highway 16 between Witset and Hazelton. In 1949 a highway foreman observed a Bigfoot run across the road and in to the bush. He was driving at the time. One creature seen was reportedly ten feet tall.
The most unusual report came from a long time resident of the valley. A child, during 1958 or 1959, while visiting his grandfather's ranch in the Kispiox, seen a talk hairy creature walk out across the field on two legs. It stopped to select two bales of hay which the creature then tucked under each arm before disappearing back in to the forest. This resident would have several sightings throughout his life out in the bush. The valley has a rich history of sightings and encounters.
I (Barb) have spent more than ten years researching them from the Kispiox to in behind Burns Lake and all areas in between. Mostly remote locations. They are real. Unlike anything you have ever have imagined them to be. They are also extremely frightening to encounter. The grizzlies are terrified of them. The experience will shake you to the core. Some advice, rifles piss them off. It's a good thing they choose to stay away from us. Sightings and encounters happen mostly by accident. Like any other wildlife predator out there, they will leave you alone unless you threaten or provoke them. In these parts, Bigfoot is the supreme apex predator.
Barb & Richard Cecil