Search for B.C.'s best roadside attraction: Northern semifinals

Search for B.C.'s best roadside attraction: Northern semifinals

Mr. PG faces Tumbler Ridge's geopark while the Nisga'a lava beds duel with the gold rush town of Barkerville

Four iconic northern B.C. roadside attractions. Four different centuries.

From more than 300 submissions across the province, the final four entries from north of Williams Lake in the Search for B.C.'s Best Roadside Attraction reflect the diversity and evolution of this province in so many ways.

In the 18th century, a volcano explosion in the Nass Valley created lava beds in Nisga'a territory that now surround Highway 113, with the lava flows and deaths of around 2,000 people permanently changing the people and the geography.

"It's really a place that holds a lot of history, and it really holds that validity in our oral histories," said Justina Moore, an education and programs director at the Nisga'a Museum where they explore the seismic event from a variety of angles.

"It's a place where Western science meets oral history and Indigenous ways of knowing."

Why the Nisga’a lava bed could be B.C.’s best roadside attraction

In the 19th century, an area of B.C. was permanently changed by settlers as thousands of miners in search of gold found a massive stake east of Quesnel, with the biggest of them discovered by an Englishman named Billy Barker.

"You can come here and feel as though you have travelled back in time," said Stewart Cawood, manager of public programming and media at Barkerville Historic Town, the half-original and half-reconstructed gold rush town so integral to the province's early settlement history.

In the 20th century, B.C.'s economic calling card was not gold, but wood — and few places exemplified that more than Prince George, and a giant log man mascot that greets visitors who enter the region's largest city.

"I've never been anywhere or lived anywhere where there is like such a beloved town mascot," said Claire Thwaites, Prince George's manager of communications, about the one and only Mr. PG.

"It's become more than a landmark. It's kind of become the symbol. And I think in everyone's minds, he's got this great, cheeky, friendly personality."

And in the 21st century, resource towns continue looking at ways to diversify their economy and attract tourists with their natural wonders — including in a planned resource town in the Peace.

Dinosaur discoveries draw visitors to Tumbler Ridge geological park

"A lot of those resource roads actually led to these wonderful sites that we now enjoy like the waterfalls and canyons," said Manda Maggs, executive director of the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark.

"The access from the resource industry actually allowed us to have the tourism industry as well, because that has become the basis of our massive hiking trail network."

They're four stories that tell so much about what British Columbia was, what it became and what it fitfully tries to be today.

But only two of them can move on to the next round.

After determining the best small town, lake and symbol, the Search for B.C.'s Best Roadside Attraction continues our summer tradition of asking CBC British Columbia readers to vote in a bracket and weigh in on an aspect of the province's identity.

Search for B.C.'s best roadside attraction: Interior semifinals

In today's matchups, Mr. PG faces the Tumbler Ridge Geopark, while the Nisga'a Lava Beds match up with Barkerville.

Voting takes place every week in August from Monday to Thursday, with one region represented on each voting day.

A champion will be crowned from the final four before Labour Day.

Voting is open until 8 p.m. PT on Thursday. Cast your ballot — and may the best roadside attraction win.