British Columbia Magazine

10/19/2026

Western Meadowlark, photographed near Clinton, BC. This image received a Nature Honourable Mention in our 2026 Photo Contest, published in the Fall 2026 issue.

The Western Meadowlark is a grassland species found across BC’s Interior plateaus and dry valleys. That bright yellow breast and black V-shaped bib make it one of the more recognizable songbirds in open rangeland, though its flute-like call is often what gives it away first.

Shot on a Canon EOS R7 at 1/1000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 1000.

Congratulations to Amanda Nelson and to all of this year’s contest winners and honourable mentions!

10/16/2026

Grizzly bears haven’t been resident on Vancouver Island for more than 11,000 years. That may be changing. A mother grizzly and two cubs are now living on the northern part of the island, and since 1999, 15 individual grizzlies have been verified there by the province.

Research through the BC Megafauna Project at Simon Fraser University found that black, grizzly, and short-faced bears co-existed on Vancouver Island between 14,500 and 11,700 years ago. Grizzlies likely disappeared as forests expanded into their habitat when the climate warmed. Now, with an estimated 15,000 grizzlies in BC and younger males being pushed out of crowded territories on the mainland, they’re swimming back.

The province doesn’t formally monitor grizzlies on Vancouver Island. Whether this family marks the beginning of a resident population is still an open question.

10/14/2026

Canada has officially recognized October as Latin American Heritage Month since 2018. More than half a million people of Latin American origin live in Canada, with roots spanning 22 countries.

In Metro Vancouver, Latincouver’s annual festival runs Oct. 14 to Nov. 2 across Granville Island, Burnaby, and other Lower Mainland locations. The lineup includes a Spanish Book Fair at Ocean Art Works (Oct. 18, free), Día de los Mu***os workshops and markets at The Amazing Brentwood (Oct. 24-25) and Granville Island (Oct. 31-Nov. 1), and a closing Catrinas Procession. Opening night features Juno-nominated, BC-based musician Celso Machado at Performance Works.

Full schedule and details in the article.

https://www.bcmag.ca/celebrate-latin-american-heritage-month-around-vancouver/

***os

09/24/2026

Vancouver's North Shore's world-famous 137-meter Capilano Suspension Bridge has an impressive view, but it's the surrounding trees that are the real stars of the show here. Much of the old-growth forest, dominated by impressive coastal Douglas Firs that stretch as high as 60 meters tall, had already been thriving for well over 1,000 years before the bridge was first built back in 1889.

Today they not only supply majestic West Coast beauty all throughout the park, but also provide a one-of-a-kind experience through the Treetops Adventure. Built in 2004, this canopy walk takes visitors over a series of rainforest treetop platforms connected by seven suspension bridges, as high as 110 feet above the forest floor. The trees support the entire infrastructure with less than a thumbprint of pressure per square inch thanks to an innovative, non-invasive collar system that never penetrates bark, branches, or trunks, allowing the trees to grow freely.

Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is just one more way to get UP, close and personal with stunning nature on Vancouver’s North Shore.

Vancouver's North Shore

09/18/2026

British Columbia's coastline holds some of the most productive kelp forests in the world. Bull kelp and giant kelp anchor themselves to rocky seabeds using root-like structures called holdfasts, then grow upward toward the surface at rates that can exceed half a metre a day.

The resulting underwater canopies function much like forests on land, providing shelter, food and nursery habitat for herring, juvenile salmon, rockfish and sea otters. Marine biologists often call them the rainforests of the sea.

Photo: (via instagram)

09/16/2026

Fall at the Farm returns to Maan Farms in Abbotsford from Sept. 12 to Nov. 1, with the Forest Pumpkin Patch doubling in size to five acres. Tens of thousands of pumpkins surround large-scale storybook structures, including Canada's Biggest Pumpkin House and a river of heirloom pumpkins. Mushroom Village brings back its Mushroom House alongside a new 12-foot Teapot House, with a Butterfly House, Bee House and Petting Patch (pony rides, Highland cows, alpacas, goats) also on the grounds.

Barnyard Adventureland adds a Three-Lane Zipline Race and a Corn Play Pit, joining two corn mazes, one carved into the cursive shape of "Maan Farms." At Mama Maan's Country Kitchen, new seasonal items include pumpkin pie cheesecake samosas and butter chicken mac & cheese, alongside returning favourites like apple pie nachos and Double Pumpkin Spice Cream. Maan Farms Estate W**ery is also releasing canned versions of its MAD Pumpkin and MAD Apple spiced w**es, with MAD Pumpkin having earned silver at the National W**e Awards of Canada.

https://www.bcmag.ca/maan-farms-welcomes-fall-with-pumpkins-food-frights/

Fall is returning to Maan Farms in Abbotsford with an expanded pumpkin patch, new attractions, seasonal food and w**e and a month of Halloween scares. Fall at the Farm runs from Sept. 12 to Nov. 1, with the Forest Pumpkin Patch doubling in size to five acres. Tens of thousands of pumpkins will surro...

09/14/2026

Emerald Lake is the largest lake in Yoho National Park, ringed by the peaks of the President Range. Its vivid green-blue colour comes from rock flour, fine glacial sediment carried into the lake by meltwater from the Emerald Glacier. A 5.2-kilometre loop trail circles the shoreline, one of the easier hikes in the park and accessible from a parking area just off Emerald Lake Road. The lake was named in 1882 by mountain guide Tom Wilson, one of the first outsiders to document it.

Photo: Tyler Farrer Photography

09/11/2026

British Columbia has nearly every ingredient needed to form a waterfall: steep mountains, heavy precipitation, deep winter snowpacks, glaciers and a geologically complex landscape shaped by uplift, erosion and volcanic activity. Moist Pacific air rises when it hits the Coast Mountains, cools and releases its moisture as rain or snow, a process called orographic precipitation. It's part of what makes BC's coast and windward slopes some of the wettest terrain in Canada.

Many of the province's tallest falls trace back to the last ice age. Large glaciers carved deeply into major valleys, while smaller tributary glaciers cut less. When the ice retreated, those smaller valleys were left perched above the deeper ones below, features geologists call hanging valleys. Streams flowing out of them now hit an abrupt edge with nowhere to go but down. Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park is a clear example, fed by meltwater from the Daly Glacier and running strongest during the summer melt season.

https://www.bcmag.ca/a-province-of-waterfalls/

08/31/2026

I love a walk! In the morning. Through the woods. With a coffee. With a friend. By the water. On a trail. Off the trail. To catch a view. To chase the sunset.

The land has a lot to teach us. If we listen right, maybe we can keep this place wild for the kids (and kits) coming up behind us.

Wander with me at keepitwildbc.ca

08/25/2026

Vancouver Island is home to an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 black bears, and the mainland inlets across from Campbell River and Vancouver Island North are prime grizzly territory, with Bute Inlet and Knight Inlet drawing tours specifically for that reason. Tofino offers shoreline black bear viewing, best in spring when bears emerge from hibernation and forage at low tide for crabs and shellfish.

Campbell River and Vancouver Island North run boat trips into the inlets, with fall being peak grizzly season as salmon runs pull bears in from the coast, pink salmon peaking in September and coho and chinook running through October and November. All tours worth booking go through Commercial Bear Viewing Association certified operators, which include a conservation fee that supports bear protection.

Full guide here: https://www.bcmag.ca/your-guide-to-bear-viewing-on-vancouver-island/