Despite telling everyone how wonderful it is to visit to Chetwynd BC, I am fairly sure that I won't be able to convince many people to visit. After all it is very north and it is a small community. Unless you want to visit to fish or hunt or plant trees or perhaps to ski at nearby Powder King Resort most people stay in the southern parts of British Columbia. Perhaps the week long Chainsaw Carving Tournament held each year in June might entice you to visit. For us of course the visit is sweet because we have family to spend time with.
We flew to Calgary and then took a smaller plane into Fort St. John where our daughter picked us up. Our options would have been to fly into Vancouver first before transferring to a flight into either Fort St. John, Dawson Creek or Prince George.
From Fort St. John to Chetwynd we spent an hour on a beautifully paved road where we saw fields and fields and cattle. However, we did not see a house, or barn or garage. We did not see a driveway and mailbox but we did see the occasional roofed shelter for the cattle. Beautiful scenery but no real sign of people. Definitely felt alone on the road! Then finally just on the outskirts of Chetwynd we saw a smattering of human habitation.
Our first view of Chetwynd was magical. The road curves and turns down a significant hill opening up into the town at the bottom of the valley. Everything was neat, clean and green, green as the town has a wide grassy boulevard on either side of the highway that splits through the center of town with plenty of well placed trees on either side. Even though Chetwynd is further north than Timmins the trees are much taller. We were there in July and it was hot and very beautiful. 
Actually the whole town seems to be in the middle of the forest as we noted very well when we climbed Mount Baldy with our daughter. She was climbing this "hill" most days along with her dog. It's referred to as Mount Baldy because at the very top there are no trees. She thought we were going to get to the top to experience the fabulous view of the valley from up there. She was either overestimating her parents' abilities or she was out to kill us. We huffed and puffed up the continual switchbacks up the side of the mountain. When we reached the lookout at the half way point we called it quits. The view was more than fabulous enough and the next leg after the lookout appeared to go straight up a wall. Definitely not an excursion for the faint of heart--or the weak hearted!
The town has benefited from some smart thinking. The community complex has the library, arena, pool, curling rink, rock climbing wall, squash courts, bike and skateboard park all in one area and close to the local high school. As well baseball diamonds and hiking trails are easily accessible.
Each year the chainsaw carving contest welcomes carvers from around the world. Although most participants are from Canada and the US, there have been carvers from Japan, Wales, Australia, and Scotland who have attended..along with others. Part of the competition is the donation of each carving back to the town so that it can be put on permanent display. Many are placed in between the trees along the main thoroughfare through town creating a sort of hall of carvings through town. Others can be found at the town hall and the welcome to Chetwynd signs. They are wonderfully varied in theme, style and talent. We enjoyed a morning walking along reading the plaques on the carvings and taking pictures of carvings. 
