Wells is a thriving small community in a spectacular mountain setting. Families, artists, and sportspeople travel to Wells for exciting, creative getaways. The community is one hour from Quesnel on a beautiful, scenic drive.

Minutes from Barkerville Historic Town and less than an hour's drive from the Bowron Lakes, Wells also offers travelers one of the ten best canoe trips on the planet. The area's world-class recreational choices also include snowmobiling, cross-country and downhill skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, bird-watching, fishing and paddling. Every spring, the Wells Snowmobile Club offers the Great Canadian Hill Climb, which will be held April 3, 2004.

Wells is also an arts community. It is home to Island Mountain Arts School, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2003. Painters, photographers and nature enthusiasts enjoy the area's special light quality and wonderful, crisp, clean air.

The town is named after Fred Wells, who discovered the richest hard rock gold deposits in the Cariboo. He also founded the famous Cariboo Gold Quartz Mine, which opened in 1933, when the rest of Canada was immersed deep into the Great Depression of the 1930s. Most of the town was built in about five years, and much period architecture remains.

For more information on Wells, visit the Wells Chamber of Commerce at www.wellsbc.com; the District of Wells at www.district.wells.bc.ca; and Island Mountain Arts at www.imarts.com.

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