The highest peaks of the Bella Coola Spires, photo credit: Drew Brayshaw on Flickr

Once I went camping with some friends outside Bella Coola, in a beautiful spot, up a logging road – also known as a “resource road,” used by industry. The mountains, water, forest, and fresh air were amazing, but when a fully loaded logging truck thundered by, I got pretty worried.

My companions, who were from the area, insisted it was safe. We had already braved the narrow switchback roads through the Chilcotin Mountains driving from Vancouver to Bella Coola in my Ford pickup. One of my friends took over the driving after Williams Lake – all downhill, through the peaks, into the valley that led to their town. When he pretended to lose control of the brakes, my heart skipped a few beats.

“Haha. Just joking!” he yelled, turning up the car stereo.

I vowed to never travel with these people again, and thank goodness we made it there and back safely. Since then, I’ve only driven on logging roads with my aunt and cousins, who are super-responsible and have a radio in their truck. We used the logging road east of Lillooet, in the Cariboo Region that, incidentally, was threatened by fire in the summer of 2009.

More information on resource roads in BC

Image from Public Use video

Forest Service Road Use Regulation
What’s the law in BC?

Forest Roads: Guide for Safe Travel
This PDF brochure from the BC Forest Safety Council says: “An ATV may be used on a Forest Service road at any time unless the road is posted with a sign restricting use.”