June 8, 2025 Sunday

Well, I see I’m getting my days all mixed up but oh well. In case anyone is paying attention, Friday the 6th we drove to Terrace and settled in to our hotel. Had dinner at the Wheelhouse Brewing Company in Terrace. Amazing to find a great brew pub here. Great beer and great food.

Saturday the 7th we hiked up to the museum and had take out sushi.

Now on Sunday we drove 97km north to the Nisga’a Memorial Lava Bed Park. It was a long drive but incredibly beautiful. As we left town we crossed the “Old” Skeena Bridge, built in 1923. This bridge is an historic feat of engineering that once boasted the title as the longest, single lane, wood deck curved bridge in North America.

The bridge now has a metal deck with a wide sidewalk for pedestrians and cyclists.

And this warning sign which I thought was great.

Here’s a view of the road to the lave beds. We followed the Skeena River most of the way there. So beautiful.

Lava Beds

These lava beds are the result of a fissure eruption from Tseax Volcano, which occurred just 300 years ago. This eruption caused large lava flows that dammed the Nass River and destroyed four Nisga’a villages, resulting in an estimated 2,000 fatalities. The lava flows cover a significant area and have left behind a unique landscape with diverse vegetation. (I had never heard of a fissure eruption. Pretty amazing.)

On the drive back to Terrace we stopped to check out several interesting self-guided auto tour sites along the way.

Vetter Falls

Beaupre Falls

Here’s a map of the area. Note the road to Terrace at the bottom of the map.

Lava Lake

Here’s a view of the drive back to Prince Rupert to turn in the car on Monday. Always spectacular around here!