Presented by Tourism Prince George
One of my favourite things to do when I’m a city that I’ve never been to is to just wander around. Sure, it’s important to get the necessary information so you don’t miss the important stuff, but if you have sometime to walk or drive around town, that’s usually when you find the real good stuff.
On my recent trip to Prince George, I had some time to do just that. Now, I’ll be honest when I say Prince George isn’t exactly a thousand year old european city, it’s very much a working-man city, so finding the gems takes a keen eye, which is one of the reasons why I’ve recently fallen in love with photography. If you walk around with your camera, you’ll find yourself looking at everything differently. “What makes for a good photo?” “Would that look good on Instagram?” Â “Oh! I have to show so and so that!” And it was by asking those questions, I was really able to find some great stuff!
Here are some of my photography high lights of Prince George. Now remember, I’m no photographer, most of my photos are just with my phone, I just like taking photos. There’s a big difference!
The downtown:
One of the city’s most historic parts is definitely going through a revitalization, with new buildings being built in time for the Canada Winter Games this winter and other buildings and streets being completely rebuilt, I can only imagine how quaint and perfect the city will look when it’s all said and done probably around this time next year. But it’s not all construction, there’s a lot of great pockets of independent stores like Books and Company, Cycle Logic and Homework. But my favourite by far was Home Sweet Home, a local-foods grocery store in the heart of downtown. Â It was beyond cute and it only gets me more excited when I think of what’s to come in terms of creative businesses in Prince George.
The views:
One of the best ways to see a city is to go as high as you can and during my travels in and around Prince George I found a few really great lookouts that for those of us that like a sweet sunrise and/or beautiful sunset, will want to check them out.  McMillan Creek Regional Park and LC Gunn Park offer up fantastic views of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers and the city itself.  For sunrise shots, you’ll probably want to be at McMillian Creek Regional Park and then LC Gunn for the sunset.
Everyone you talk to will tell you about the view from the University of Northern British Columbia and they’d be right. It really is beautiful. Â From there, you don’t so much see the city, as much as the dense forests and rolling hills that surround it. On a particularly snowy day, I can’t imagine a more perfect spot to get those snowcapped tree tops! Or alternatively, a hot summer day, where blue sky perfectly contrasts the green trees.
But in terms of vantage points, I don’t think it gets better than Connaught Hill Park, which is smack dab in the middle of the city. You can walk up the windy road, but there’s plenty of parking up top too. From there, you’ll get a 360 degree of the whole area, not to mention that you’re in a beautiful park in its own right. Definitely check it out, just make sure you battery is full.
Prince George CNR Bridge
Originally built in 1914, the bridge is looking good for a 100 years old. I was in Prince George for four days and I went down every day to try and get pictures of the bridge that looked different every single time. I wanted so desperately for the water on the bridge to be calm enough to get those perfect relfection photos, but I don’t think I was getting there early enough in the day to get it perfectly. But that didn’t stop me from grabbing a few shots from a couple of different angles. I like train bridges because I don’t think they were something that was always celebrated for it’s beauty and architecture, which this bridge definitely should!
Check out more of my Prince George photos on Instagram.
