Howe Sound

In its spectacular setting at the head of Howe Sound the old logging town of Squamish is the destination for excursions aboard the Royal Hudson Steam Train and the M.V. "Britannia". The trunks of trees felled in the Squamish Valley are rafted together here before being towed down to Vancouver.The first Europeans to arrive (in 1888) were quick to appreciate the value of the sheltered harbor, and consequently founded a settlement around it. Until 1956 when the line was extended as far as Vancouver, Squamish was at the southern end of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from Prince George (operated today by B.C. Rail). There is a small museum devoted to the Squamish Valley in old Brightbill House.Guided treks on horseback into the still largely undeveloped interior are another much indulged form of recreation.Flights over the ice-fields and glaciers of the Coast Mountains can be arranged from Squamish Airport (with a landing on the remote glaciers one of the highlights).The town's annual Squamish Days (at the end of July/beginning of August) are to all intents and purposes a full-scale international lumberjacks' championship. Teams come from all over the world to compete in the traditional logging contests.