Quesnel

Quesnel (pronounced kwinnel) is a city of about 12,000 people (2016) in the Cariboo region of British Columbia on the bank of the Fraser River. The town got its start via its location on the Cariboo Wagon Road which transported thousands of prospectors seeking their fortunes during the Cariboo Gold Rush. Today the city is supported by the forestry industry.

Understand
Quesnel is at the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel Rivers.

History
Long before the arrival of prospectors during the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1862, the Southern Carrier (Dakelh) people lived off the land around Quesnel, occupying the area from the Bowron Lakes in the east to the upper Blackwater and Dean Rivers in the west. The Southern Carrier Nation were known among themselves as ‘Uda Ukelh’, meaning ‘people who travel by boat on water early in the morning’. The name "Quesnel" is derived from Jules Maurice Quesnel, who accompanied Simon Fraser on his journey to the Pacific Ocean. Quesnel came to be called 'Quesnellemouth' to distinguish it from 'Quesnel Forks', 97 km (60 mi) up river. In 1870 it had been shortened to Quesnelle and by 1900 it was spelled the way it is now. Quesnel is along the gold mining trail known as the Cariboo Wagon Road and was the commercial centre of the Cariboo Gold Rush. It also marks one end of the Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail. Because of its location on the Fraser River it was also an important landing for sternwheelers during 1862 until 1886 and then from 1909 until 1921. The last sternwheeler on the upper Fraser was Quesnel's own namesake craft, and home town product, the Quesnel.

Climate
Quesnel's humid continental climate is very mild by Canadian standards, being subject to marine airflows from the Pacific. Overnight lows are still cool even in summer, but daytime temperatures average above 24 °C (75 °F) in that season.

By car
Quesnel is on provincial Highway 97 320 km north of Cache Creek and 110 km south of Prince George.

It is nearly equidistant between the cities of Prince George and Williams Lake, on the main route to northern British Columbia and Yukon.

Airlines
Airlines operating to Quesnel:

By train

 * The Rocky Mountaineer train travels through and stops overnight in Quesnel, coming from North Vancouver and Whistler on is way to Jasper.

Go next

 * Barkerville, a ghost town and National Historic Site, which appears as it did during its heyday during 1860s, when it was the main town of the Cariboo Gold Rush. The only road in is from Quesnel.