Go, Canada (While They’ll Still Have You)
Hey neighbor: These Americans still love you.
The xenophobia oozing out of Washington, D.C. lately strikes close to our zone of interest: travel. And because some people in the U.S. capital think it’s a good idea to deliver a none-too-subtle screw-you to our neighbor to the north, we thought this would be a good week to dust off the places high on our wish list in Canada. Let’s go show them some love.
Here’s what we’ve got:
an indigenous-led deep dive into British Columbia’s wilderness
a gorgeous road trip through Newfoundland and Labrador
the southern Quebec gem for devotees of field-to-table dining
tour operators on the high-end offering higher thrills
Summoning the Spirit in Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia
The Kitasoo Xai’xais People have been caring for the world’s largest coastal temperate rainforest — an earthly treasure of glacier-capped mountains and a host of endangered species — for thousands of years. Thankfully these stewards of the land got the memo (they probably helped write it) about conservation-based eco tourism.
It’s an hour and twenty minutes from Vancouver to Bella Bella, followed by a two-hour scenic boat ride north to Klemtu on Canada’s rugged west coast to Spirit Bear Lodge, a 100-percent, indigenous-owned all-inclusive hotel that offers locally sourced meals, daily guided cultural excursions, and wildlife tours through forests, estuaries, rivers, inlets with immense waterfalls and granite cliffs, and rocky beaches. Guests have cozy ocean-front rooms and the chance to see whales, eagles, and other famously hard-to-find icons in nature like the spirit bear, a subspecies of black bear — of which there are only a few hundred anywhere.
Farther north, under the stewardship of the Klahoose people, Klahoose Wilderness Resort in Desolation Sound welcomes guest lecturers, photographers, and artists to lead seasonal workshops and join in cultural activities. The ocean waters here are calm, sheltered, and warm (at least by Pacific standards), making swimming a pleasure — especially during summer’s extended daylight hours.
The historic Tweedsmuir Park Lodge is the gateway to the Great Bear Rainforest, located at the eastern edge, an easy, 70-minute flight from Vancouver (or a ferry from Vancouver island). Ten woodsy chalets are nestled in grizzly country — moms and their cubs regularly end up hanging out on the lodge lawn.
Way down at the southern edge of the rainforest, a young family who wanted a life immersed in nature set out to build an off-grid lodge. Forty years later, Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort, a nine-cabin retreat with a floating dock, sauna, wildlife excursions, and seasonally driven meals, continues its ethical, climate-friendly, and thoughtful approach to hospitality, adventure, and connection with nature.
Fun fact: Tweedsmuir and Nimmo Bay are part of the Magnificent 7 luxury wilderness lodges, a unique (and very Canadian!) partnership between seven independent, sustainable family businesses that help promote one another. We want to stay at them all.
Read on for a colorful road trip in Newfoundland, a to-die-for dining itinerary in Quebec, and two top-tier Canadian tour operators ….