Highway 16; 75 miles west of the Alberta border, 131 miles east of Prince George, 104 miles west of Jasper. Population: 742. Area Population: 3,000. Visitor Information Center located in the historic Train Station at First and Main; McBride District Chamber, PO Box 2, McBride, BC V0J 2E0; Phone: (250) 569-3366.
McBride is located on the banks of the Fraser River in the scenic Robson Valley. Alexander Mackenzie and his companions, the first white men to cross the Rocky Mountains, followed one of the tribal routes down the MacGregor River to the Fraser in 1792. The region became an important fur trading area.
In the late 1870s, surveyors for the railroad arrived in search of a route through the Rocky Mountains. Yellowhead Pass far outweighed all other possible routes, but it was not until the early 1900s that the railroad worked its way west from Edmonton, Alberta. In 1913, McBride was selected the divisional point for the railroad and gradually began to grow as people came to homestead the land, to build businesses, and to work for the railroad or one of the logging mills that supplied the railroad with timbers and ties.
The McBride area is a birdwatcher’s delight with many different kinds of waterfowl; over 175 species of birds can be seen along the shores Horseshoe Lake. The higher peaks around McBride allow for heli-skiing or heli-hiking. McBride is host to a thriving artisan community; a great place to find quality handmade local crafts.
