Barkerville Historic Town & Park — Attraction in Area C (Bowron Lake/Barlow Creek/Barkerville)

Having grown up in the Wells and Quesnel area from age 3 to 12, I visited Barkerville many times before they even started charging admission. When I first started visiting, the buildings were over 100 years old then, with only a few having been restored by the Historical Society or BC Government. The last time I visited was in 1998 with my now-deceased Uncle, and more buildings were restored and opened.

However, this most recent time I visited, on June 26th, 2023, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many more buildings were restored and open for viewing or experiencing. More stores were open, too. I was so glad to learn that the Barkerville Post Office was reopened after they finally got a new Postmaster. Mailed a Barkerville post card back home to the States, with a Barkerville postmark on it. 😀

My Aunt and I attended a wonderful live performance at Theatre Royal, which I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Bella from England, was one of the performers. Previously I had had a very pleasant conversation with her, in period costume, on the boardwalk a short ways away. She was so wonderful in so many ways.

In all the years I had visited Barkerville as a kid, I had never taken a Stagecoach ride. I wish I had in those days because being older now and having a messed up back from a wreck 4-1/2 years ago, I found the Stagecoach ride I took this time was very jarring on my back and shoulders resulting in a lot of the pain the rest of the day. I wondered how in the old days travelers could ride long distances in a Stagecoach. 😉 It was my own fault, I should have known that it would jar my back. But I'm glad I had the stagecoach experience one time. Never again for me, though! LOL

Prior to entering the historical town, my Aunt and I visited my Uncle's grave on the Barkerville cemetery, and spent some time there. He used to work in Barkerville for many years driving a team of horses hauling the mail wagon.

This was the BEST visit to...

Just went there today, it was amazing and I have some tips and advise. The drive up is beautiful, just take the corners slow as they can be misjudged as how sharp they are. Plan to be there from 10am until atleast 4pm or later, it is needed. Take the 10am tour as it should not be missed. The actor who talks and walks you through the European part is amazing. She keeps you engaged with her knowledge, delivery and humor. After the tour go back and visit the buildings that interest you, grab a cup of coffee. I recommend paying the $7 for the souvenir mug as you then get unlimited coffee. Look in the shops and do not miss the bakery, it is everything and more. I then recommend you walk through Chinatown on your own first. The tour for that starts at 2:30pm so you have time. It is given by an Archeologist. However the lack of 5 stars is due to this tour. Within the first five minutes of her presentation, she makes fun of the guide of the Eruopean tour which was totally uncalled for and I found rude. Though she is very knowledgeable, her delivery was very dry and I found myself loose focus. Was a few kids who also felt this and became board, while a few adults also left the tour within the first 20 or 30 minutes. The information was super interesting and I loved hearing about it, but the presentation wasn't the best. Especially since the first tour was sooo very engaging. This is why I recommend you read up first before doing the tour, that way if you want you can just skip ahead. The guide also wore her mask the whole time while outside, which made it even harder for myself and I'm sure others to hear and understand her. Barkerville as a whole was amazing, I highly recommend everyone go as there is soo much to learn, see...

Barkerville This was our first visit to Barkerville. We thoroughly enjoyed interacting with the local folks who were in character for the late 1800’s. We arrived at 9:00 am when they opened and there were not many people in line. The COVID incident has reduced the numbers in the park this year. As we visited we heard typically they would have over a thousand people a day but the average now is only around 200. Many of the shops and buildings are closed due to Covid19 but the ones that were open were great fun. We were able to see them all in about three hours. There were no long waiting lines and we conversed profusely with the locals. We heard the history of many of the characters and shared a little of our own history. 😊. Our three favourite places were the Bakery, the Blacksmith shop and Miss Belle’s sewing shop. We enjoyed watching , learning facts, seeing the progression of the day’s events in the lives of a gold rush town. We also took a wagon ride that takes you through the town. It was very enjoyable. We got to talk to the driver, who filled us in on a little bit of the history as well as her own growing up years and her life with horses 🐎. Social distancing was well kept as folks would wait at an entry till others exited the premises. Hand sanitizer and washing stations were located throughout the town to assist in the reduction of transferring any germs. Funding has been provided for winter activities as well and this year they will be open for sleigh rides and winter activities. A plus is that the road is now paved all the way out to Barkerville. A smooth and quick ride compared to the gravel roads...