Thar's gold in them thar hills
Back in the 1800s central British Columbia was swept up by one of the biggest gold rushes ever to hit North America. The Prince George, Wells and Barkerville areas are experiencing a modern day bonanza of sorts. This time it involves snow - white gold - and the shiny glint of snowmobiles. According to Gary Enders, director of the Prince George Snowmobile Club, the area is becoming one of the west's most popular snowmobile destinations. "We opened our most popular trail last year. It takes riders 170 kilometres from Prince George to Barkerville," he said. "It is the longest stretch on the cross Canada Rendez-vous Trail without any services. There is a section of trail that you can connect to alpine riding and you can actually get above the treeline at Wells. That trail goes right though to Kamloops, so theoretically you can ride from Prince George to Kamloops without ever having to trailer your sled." The Prince George Snowmobile Club has an active trail grooming program. It has four groomers that are used to groom the south and west trails as well as nearby mountain trails. These groomers will groom as wide as 12 feet and with two passes it provides a 24 foot wide trail. "We are working with the B.C. Forest Service to widen some of the tight spots on our trails," Gary Enders explained. "We got heavily involved in trail grooming about five years ago. We had one old Bombi and our membership was only 30-40 and now we've gotten up to about 500 members. We have been the largest club in B.C. for the past two years." Enders credits a proactive and co-operative attitude to Prince George's success. "We work well with the ATV and horse groups as well as hikers. Our trails get 12 months of use. This summer we have just built two new 16 x 24 shelters at about $10,000 a piece. They've got wood stoves, picnic tables inside and picnic tables and outhouses outside. You get a really beautiful view summer and winter." Prince George now sports over 300 kilometres of groomed and maintained trails to the south and about 150 kilometres of trails on the west side and of course the 170 kilometre trail to Barkerville. The best thing about these trails is that they are easily accessible right from the clubhouse door. The economic benefits are being felt by businesses in the area. "The economic impact of snowmobiling is definitely on a positive note," Gary Enders continues. "We have had guys come in from Alberta and fly in from Ontario, just to do the Barkerville trip. We are getting some tourism spinoffs especially for snowmobile rentals, restaurants and gas stations." Thanks to efforts of the Prince George Snowmobile Club; it looks like the area has hit winter pay dirt.
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