This spring, I took my kids on a road trip to Barkerville in beautiful British Columbia to hopefully show them a bit of the wonder I experienced as a kid.

Barkerville was named after Billy Barker from Cambridgeshire, England. He was one of the first to strike gold in that location in 1862 and it proved to be the richest and became the most famous. You can take a quick look at the story/history of this iconic gold rush town here: Barkerville – Wikipedia. The official town website is here: Barkerville Historic Town & Park

As mentioned in a previous entry, I went to Barkerville as a kid and celebrated a birthday there. It is one of my fondest memories and I wanted to try and share that with my kids. We did a road trip staying in different places and exploring but that is for another entry. This is for the Barkerville portion, which was our main goal of the trip.

We opted to stay in a cabin that they have on site. They have 3 cabins built on a lot just before the parking area. They also do have accommodations right in the town which would be quite the experience but with the number of people we had, the cabin was the better choice. These cabins have 3 bedrooms, 2 with queen beds, 1 with two singles. Fully equipped kitchen, washer & dryer, 1.5 bathrooms and a nice sitting area. The best part is it is located a short walk into the town.

We spent our time there exploring all of the buildings and of course trying out some amazing sweets at the town bakery. Amongst the stores and buildings that are displays there are active stores selling all types of stuff. Everything from replicas of toys from the time period of Barkervilles hey day, to your regular souvenir items. You can even do some gold panning and get actual flakes of gold that you get to take home with you in a little tube.

There is even a theater there where you can go and catch a show. They are reminiscent of the types of shows that may have been presented at the time. I found it very entertaining. I remember watching the play in that theater when I went there as a kid. I still have my playbill book with all of the autographs.

We ended our time in Barkerville with a tour of the old cemetery. We only explored a little bit as there were bears in the area and there was some fairly recent “evidence” left by a bear in the graveyard.

All in all everyone had a great time and I think the memories will stay with them. Who knows, maybe one day they will go back on their own and enjoy it even more. If you ever want something different to do, I suggest checking this place out. Its a bit of history and family memories combined.

Until next time – stay sane!