Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia

As our boat glided across Kitlope Lake, the surface gleamed like glass, reflecting the steep, thickly forested slopes that lined the shore. Wrapped in silence, we gazed at the jagged, icy peaks looming in the background. 

We were on the fourth day of a weeklong adventure deep into the fjords of the northern coast of British Columbia, one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

The Great Bear Rainforest is wild and remote — no roads, only deep fjords, and channels lined with lush forests, glacier-encrusted mountains, and granite cliffs. At almost 16 million acres, it’s the largest intact temperate coastal rainforest in the world, and thanks to decades of advocacy by environmentalists and First Nations tribes, most of it is now a nature preserve.

In the sections of the rainforest that we explored, there were no cities, towns, or villages, just bears, eagles, whales, and the remnants of Indigenous villages and camps dating back thousands of years. These historic cultural sites added a human dimension to this wild place.  

We were transported into this fairytale landscape on a historic vessel, the MV Swell, a 1912 tugboat converted into a touring boat. With six private cabins and a crew of six, the Swell is compact and intimate, furnished in polished wood and brass fittings. It also has a combination salon/lounge/dining room, two outdoor decks, and a hot tub. 

To reach the ship, my wife and I flew to Vancouver, then Terrace in north Coastal BC near the border with Southeast Alaska. A shuttle whisked us to the Swell in Kitimat to begin our Great Bear Rainforest adventure.

Grizzly Bears, Eagles, and Orca

The next day, the first full day on the boat, started the trip with a bang. We headed out in two Zodiacs (inflatable motorboats) to look for wildlife. 

Our first sighting was a great blue heron near the shore, followed by an eagle in a tree. The main event was a lingering, up-close view of a young grizzly bear munching on sedge on the shore. The bear was unfazed by our company, pausing every now and then to check us out only a few yards offshore. At one point, he even posed in full view on a log. 

Then, our guides received a crackly call on their shortwave radios from the skipper on the Swell about several orcas near the boat. We sped over to see a family of three swim gracefully and majestically along the shore.

The sun lit up their gleaming backs, dorsal fins, and clouds of misty droplets emitted by their deep exhalations. We followed them for several minutes as they dived, surfaced, and swam. 

Over the next couple of days, we saw less wildlife, but the scenery grew even more dramatic as we entered the Gardner Canal, a long natural fjord and B.C.’s longest. We were surrounded by steep, massive granite monoliths, thick with trees clinging to cracks in the stone like desperate rock climbers.

One waterfall after another marked our way along the canal.

Another day, we landed on shore to search for evidence of bears — scratches, tufts of fur — on tree trunks in the forest. Fresh bear poop reminded us that we were not alone. 

We had the place pretty much to ourselves. There was no internet, cell phone service, or CNN, but I didn’t miss it.

Rainforest Expedition

On our fourth day, we embarked on a great adventure, a full-day excursion in the Zodiacs up the river to Kitlope Lake, the ancestral home of the Haisla First Nation people. 

After three hours winding up the river amid puffs of cottonwood seeds drifting in the air and on the water, we spotted two skittish bears on the shore.

Soon after, we worked our way over a shallow stretch of river, dinging the propeller of our outboard motor on the rocky bottom. Before entering the lake, this was the last barrier that had thwarted our guides in previous attempts. 

We made it. For several minutes, we sat in silence, transfixed. No one else was there. No boats, no kayaks, no huts, no planes flying overhead. Our chief guide, Marlo, believes it’s the most remote place on earth. We lingered on the beach for a while. Except for a pool of thousands of tadpoles, we had this paradise to ourselves.

On the way back to the tugboat, we visited M’iskusu, the former village site of the Haisla nation, to see a replica totem pole. This was a copy of the pole taken from the Haisla people in 1929 and spirited off to a museum in Sweden.

The yearslong effort to return the pole to its rightful place among the Haisla people exemplifies the First Nations’ struggle to preserve and recapture their culture and identity.

That night, I slept better than I had in weeks.

Hot Springs, Porpoises and Humpback Whales

The next day, after spotting a bear on shore, we took some time off to soak in a natural hot spring with a view of the bay. Since I was already in my bathing suit, I decided to top off the day with a soak in the hot tub on the upper deck of the Swell, which offered an even better view. 

On our last full day, several porpoises escorted us to the Whale Research Station on Fin Island, darting in, out, and under our bow as we plowed through the water. Soon after, we spotted two humpback whales frolicking in the water — leaping and diving just 100 yards away. The show went on for several minutes.

Just when I figured the trip was over, we climbed into the Zodiacs for one last cruise into Gilttoyees Inlet for maybe the most stunning scenery of all.

The terrain was essentially the same—snowcapped peaks, lush forest, sparkling water—but the colors seemed even more vivid than usual. Maybe it was the realization that our trip was ending, and I wanted to burn the scene into my memory. 

We almost didn’t make it here. For three weeks before the trip, I had been coughing and wheezing from asthma brought on by a bad cold. By the end of the trip, I felt better than I had in weeks. The combination of wilderness, fresh air, and wildlife had flushed out my lingering illness.

I know that over time, the body often heals itself. The right medicines also help. But I can’t help thinking that, to some extent, my body and mind were healed by the waters, trees, and massifs, as well as the living things, animal and human, past and present, of the Great Bear Rainforest.

If You Go:

Round-trip airfare to Vancouver on WestJet, United or Air Canada is less than $500. Round-trip airfare between Vancouver and Terrace, BC is about $225 on WestJet or Air Canada.

The Great Bear Rainforest trips are run by Maple Leaf Adventures (mapleleafadventures), the host for this trip. They run several different trips in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Author Bio: Don is an award-winning travel writer. After a 40+ year career as an organizational psychologist, consultant, and academic, he transitioned to travel writing with the publication of his National Geographic book, Riding the Hulahula to the Arctic Ocean: Fifty Extraordinary Adventures for the Seasoned Traveler (with Shannon Stowell, 2008). The Wall Street Journal called this book, “ One of the best travel books to cross our desk this year…A wonderful – and inspiring – read.” Don specializes in writing about transformational travel and adventure travel for 60+ travelers.

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