20 places to use your free Parks Canada Discovery Pass in B.C.

by Nancy Baye

Parks Canada is celebrating the country’s 150th anniversary with a free pass to its stunning parks. The 2017 Discovery Pass is valid throughout the year and offers free access to national parks and marine conservation areas, plus national historic sites. Millions of passes have already been distributed. Make sure you’ve got yours, then get out there and discover these B.C. gems! [Photo credit: iStock/laughingmango]

Passes are available at MEC, any CIBC branch, through participating partners or online. Just one pass is needed for a family or group travelling together into a participating park. Remember to leave the pass clearly on display in your vehicle, either dangling from the rearview mirror or on the dashboard. Although park and historical site admission is free, some fees remain in effect.

Visitors will still need to pay for activities like guided tours and services. Also not included are: reservation fees, camping, backcountry permits, accommodation fees, firewood, parking and mooring. At Radium Hot Springs in Kootenay National Park, you’ll still need to pay a fee to soak.

Note the word national, meaning the free sites are those administered by Parks Canada, a federal agency. Provincial, municipal or private parks, or any historic sites not managed by Parks Canada are not included. Know which is which before hitting the road. The list below will get you on the right path!

• Glacier National Park – rainforest and glaciers in the Interior
• Gulf Islands National Park Reserve – coastal island landscape in southern Strait of Georgia
• Gwaii Haanas National Park, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site – coastal rainforest on Haida Gwaii
• Kootenay National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site, contains Radium Hot Springs (which is not free)
• Mount Revelstoke National Park – massive old cedars and mountains
• Pacific Rim National Park Reserve – comprised of Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands and the West Coast Trail
• Yoho National Park – another UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the Rockies

If you plan on camping, Parks Canada strongly encourages early reservations because this season will be busier than most.

• Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site – leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett, B.C.; was the major access route to the Yukon goldfields
• Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site – in Colwood; first permanent lighthouse on Canada’s West Coast
• Fort Langley National Historic Site – in Langley; a Hudson’s Bay Company pioneer outpost
• Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site – in Colwood; a pioneer fort
• Fort St. James National Historic Site – in Fort St. James; another Hudson’s Bay Company pioneer outpost
• Gitwangak Battle Hill National Historic Site – in Gitwangak (formerly Kitwanga); hilltop fort
• Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site – in Richmond; fishing and canning museum
• Kicking Horse Pass National Historic Site – in Yoho National Park (and Banff National Park in Alberta); was CP Railway’s main route through the area in the late 1800s
• Kootenae House National Historic Site – in Invermere; exploration base and fur trading post
• Nan Sdins National Historic Site – in Gwaii Haanas National Park; largest collection of Haida totem poles in their original locations
• Rogers Pass National Historic Site – in Glacier National Park; CP Railway route through Selkirk Mountains
• Stanley Park National Historic Site – in Vancouver; urban park
• Twin Falls Tea House National Historic Site – in Yoho National Park; tea house from early 1900s

Enjoy our national treasures this year, and reaffirm why B.C. might just be the greatest place on earth.