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Natural splendour, art and novelty converged as the defining themes for Vancouver Island’s Round 2 contenders.
“There still is quite a diverse mix of kinds of attractions,” said Emily Carr University design professor Bonne Zabolotney of the Round of 16.
Vancouver Island has murals, goats, a tower and trees. They’re monuments, businesses, activities and natural phenomena. That diversity is what makes her interested in the Round of 16 outcome.
“What is that level of interaction that the public is going to be more and more drawn to?”
LISTEN | Bracket panelists analyze B.C.’s best roadside attraction Round of 32 results:
The Early Edition10:07Search for BC’s Best Roadside Attraction: Round of 32 Wrap-up Panel
Weekly bracket panelists Bonne Zabolotney of Emily Carr University and Ben Bradley of University of Guelph walk through the winners and losers of the Round of 32.
Vancouver Island’s winning attractions also reflect the evolution of road-based tourism in B.C.
“In the 1920s, 1930s, when British Columbia was first starting to have its regions linked together by roads… some businesses and some communities wanted to start finding a way to stand out in motorists’ eyes,” said Ben Bradley, author of British Columbia by the Road: Car Culture and the Making of a Modern Landscape.
Enter the ancient Douglas firs off Highway 4 in central Vancouver Island. Located between Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni, Cathedral Grove may not represent a single community, but by the 1920s it was a popular stop for tourists travelling along Alberni Road, according to B.C. Parks.
Car culture and road tourism took off after the Second World War when more people could afford vehicles and vacations.
The Vancouver Island and Southwest B.C. sections of the Search for B.C.’s Best Roadside Attraction (CBC News Graphics)
“You had a lot more competition,” said Bradley. “How’s a community going to stand out from another community up the valley? So this is when roadside attractions really started proliferating in their form and scale.”
The remaining three Vancouver Island attractions came to life in this era, including the Old Country Market. The business, with the sod roof upon which the Coombs goats graze, opened in 1973.
These two longstanding Vancouver Island destinations were also conceived organically, which may play into their staying power, according to Zabolotney.
“That’s really key. If you just simply build something it doesn’t mean people are automatically attracted to it. Goats on the Roof is fantastic, it is literally on the side of a road. You can pull over and you have the opportunity to spend some time with it. Same with Cathedral Grove.”
The other two contenders were more intentional.
The town of Chemainus reinvented itself as an outdoor art and tourist destination after its only sawmill shut down in 1983, filling its streets with murals and sculptures recounting the community’s history.
And the 40-metre Malahat Skywalk observation tower opened in 2021 as a ready-made attraction.
It’s bracket time
After a handy defeat of Horne Lake Caves in the first round, Coombs’ Goats on the Roof takes on the Skywalk.
Cathedral Grove took 90 per cent of the vote against the Duncan Forest Discovery Centre and will compete against Chemainus Murals in Vancouver Island Round 2.
After determining the best small town, lake and symbol, the Search for B.C.’s Best Roadside Attraction continues our summer tradition of asking CBC British Columbia readers to vote in a bracket and weigh in on an aspect of the province’s identity.
Voting takes place every week in August from Monday to Thursday, with one region represented on each voting day.
The list of 32 roadside attractions will narrow until there’s one finalist from each of the four regions.
A champion will be crowned from that final four before Labour Day.
Voting is open until 7 a.m. PT on Wednesday. Cast your ballot – and may the best roadside attraction win.