Prince Rupert

The City of Rainbows — a northern BC port city where the Skeena River meets the Pacific, rich in Tsimshian heritage.

Prince Rupert is the northernmost major city on the BC coast, a port city of about 12,000 people at the mouth of the Skeena River on Kaien Island. It is one of the rainiest cities in Canada — hence its nickname, the City of Rainbows — but the rain feeds the extraordinary lushness of the surrounding rainforest and the richness of the marine environment that makes this one of the most productive fishing grounds on the BC coast. The Museum of Northern British Columbia is one of the finest regional museums in BC, with an outstanding collection of Tsimshian art and cultural objects. The Tsimshian people have lived in this territory for thousands of years, and their artistic traditions — particularly their carved poles, masks, and ceremonial regalia — are among the most sophisticated in the Northwest Coast tradition. The museum's collection and the totem poles throughout the city provide an excellent introduction to this remarkable culture. Prince Rupert is the southern terminus of the Alaska Marine Highway System and the northern terminus of the BC Ferries Inside Passage route from Port Hardy, making it a major hub for coastal travel. The city is also the western terminus of the Via Rail Canadian transcontinental train, and the combination of ferry, rail, and road connections makes it a genuine crossroads of the north. The fishing around Prince Rupert is exceptional. The Skeena River is one of the great salmon rivers of the world, and the surrounding waters of Chatham Sound and Hecate Strait produce outstanding halibut, rockfish, and crab. The area is also excellent for wildlife viewing, with grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, and an extraordinary diversity of seabirds and marine mammals.