Welcome to the Kispiox Valley
Centrally located in northwest B.C. just off Highway 16, the Kispiox Valley is a day's drive, or less, from Prince Rupert, the Queen Charlotte Islands, Alaska, the Yukon, Prince George, and a half an hour from historic Hazelton and the recreated Gitxsan village of 'Ksan.
If you are looking for a special place at the end of a long day on the road, or are just wanting to get out of the city for some northern peace and quiet, come and enjoy the privacy and comforts of our deluxe little guesthouse. You will discover that this lovely area of B.C. has a lot to offer visitors: excellent birding, outdoor recreation, and a history rich in pioneer stories and first nations cultures.
- 2 bedrooms (queen & twins)
- Living room with wood stove
- Bathroom with shower
- Kitchenette, stocked with food for your self-catered breakfasts
- Non-smoking
- Dinner upon request for an extra charge
- We will pick up weary cyclists from town at $15.00 per trip–just ask when you call.
The Guesthouse
Our guesthouse is a 780 square foot post and beam cottage, built entirely out of local wood from the Kispiox Valley and the Hazelton area. We use our guesthouse not only to accommodate our guests, but also to showcase local art and craft, with a constantly changing gallery of works on display.
Features:
Services:
- Contact us for Current Rates.
Rates: (Spring and Summer)
Contact Information:
email: stockner@bulkley.net
Telephone: (250) 842-6401
Mail:
Todd and Kathy Stockner
2865 Kispiox Valley Road
Hazelton, B.C.
Canada
V0J 1Y5
A few words about your hosts, Todd and Kathy Stockner . . .
We moved from Vancouver to this 11 acre property in the Kispiox Valley in 1994. Here, surrounded by forests, mountains, rivers, and wonderful neighbours, we are raising our two children and enjoying our rural home.
We make our living primarily from our seasonal steelhead guiding business each fall, from the fine woodworking business that I run out of my workshop/studio on the property and from the bed and breakfast business in our guesthouse.
Besides keeping busy with the above businesses and raising our family, we are also ardent amateur birders with a passionate appreciation for the rich avian life that we have found around this home of ours. We welcome any inquiries by new or experienced birders to come and see and hear for yourself the diverse species and resulting "soundscapes" that we have here at the different stages of the year, in particular the spring and early summer "birding season."
I have started a separate "Birding" page to keep the birding news and soundscapes up to date.
How to find us:
We are located in the middle of the Kispiox Valley, a half hour drive from New Hazelton on Highway 16 (also known as the Yellowhead Highway), in northwest British Columbia. If you are on your way to Alaska, the Yukon, Prince Rupert, the Queen Charlotte Islands, or just having an adventure in northwest B.C., then you will be travelling on this route and will be in close proximity to the Dawn Chorus B&B. We will give you more detailed directions when you contact us to book your stay.
- Birding: guided and/or self directed
- River rafting: both whitewater and gentler, family oriented river outings
- Paddling: all levels of canoeing and kayaking, from flatwater to steep creeks
- Hiking: valley bottoms to high alpine and everything in between
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Dogsledding
- Historic Old Hazelton, walking tour
- Ksan, recreated Gitksan longhouses and museum
- Tour of the totems: a driving and walking tour of some of the Gitksan villages with outstanding poles. Kispiox, 'Ksan, Kitwanga, Kitwancool, Gitsegukla
- Many artists and craftspeople live in the area and often will receive visitors to their studios and galleries.
Regional Activities:
There is much to do and see in this area. Here is a list of the many activities and opportunities in the Hazelton/ Kispiox Valley area:
Outdoor/Adventure:
Sight-Seeing:
Galleries:
Contact us for more information about these and other activities while you are in the area.
- Kispiox Valley Music Festival, last weekend of July
- Midsummer Music Festival, midsummer weekend, Smithers.
- Kispiox Valley Rodeo, first weekend in June
- Pioneer Day, Old Hazelton
- Gitksan Culture Day
Regional events:
Contact us for more information about these and other events while you are in the area.
Throughout most of the winter, spring and summer months you will find me in my workshop/studio, designing and working on the many fine woodworking furniture commissions and projects that come about.
I have been working with wood for almost twenty years now; it is one of the great passions of my life. I attended the outstanding Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods in northern California, where I studied under James Krenov and Michael Burns.
While I use many local woods in my work, I do not limit myself there, often using the "classic" cabinet woods such as cherry, walnut, maple, and my favourite, pearwood, as well as small amounts of exotics.
I maintain an extensive website documenting my woodworking life, including a detailed portfolio of my works which you can find at : http://www.iwoodfish.com
Visitors are welcome any time, and certainly while staying at the Dawn Chorus Guesthouse–I would happily show you the studio and whatever works I happen to have on hand at the time.
I am a licenced angling guide here on the Kispiox and Skeena rivers, and as such the months of September, October, and November are very busy for us. This is the time that the steelhead are in the local rivers and so we are all in "guiding mode," when every day is spent out on the rivers with my angling clientele, and evenings back in the guesthouse.
Steelhead flyfishing is another passion of mine and I have been fortunate enough to be able to make a part of my living every year since 1982, spending time on these beautiful rivers.
This season is really quite different for the Dawn Chorus Guesthouse. Gone are the warm summer days, or the lovely birding days of spring. Instead, with the weather cooling off, bright sunny days become fewer and we often have frosty mornings and cool days, with rain or even snow; and the guesthouse is fully booked with enthusiastic anglers, all focussed on one thing: steelhead fly-fishing. In the evenings while sitting around the crackling fire in the woodstove, the stories of the day are told over a favourite drink.
While I prefer to focus my guiding time on the fall months, when the steelhead are in the rivers, I am open to other guiding possibilities, especially during the summer when the Chinook salmon are in the rivers. Please feel free to inquire about any angling opportunities in the area, including the possibility of the steelhead season.
If you would like a much closer look at the Fall fishing season, then go to the Annual Mykiss Guiding Report which is a colourful overview of the fish, the anglers and the stories from the past season.
The name "Mykiss" comes from the Latin name for steelhead: Oncorhynchus Irridius Mykiss.
Guesthouse: Interior Views
Here are a few images showing some of the interior detailing and comforts of the Dawn Chorus Guesthouse.
Extensive use of local logs, milled lumber, and stone, in the form of river rocks and large slate flagstones, was a priority for me in the building process. I wanted this little guesthouse to showcase the simple beauty of local materials.
Bed by Todd Stockner.
Carving by Chuck Heit.
Music Festivals:
Edge of the World Festival
(Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte Islands)
Galleries, Museums, Parks:
Swan Lake/Kispiox River Provincial Park
Gwaii Haanas/South Moresby
Nationial Park
Totem Poles at Kispiox
(interesting VR panorama of the poles in Kispiox Village)
Travel, Towns, Northern BC:
Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands)
Our favourite place for family adventure vacations (besides the
Kispiox Valley)
Kispiox.com
excellent reference site for the Kispiox valley, and surrounding
area, including some great images of the poles in Kispiox village
Northern BC travel information
Weather Information (Smithers)
BC Ferries Schedule (Prince Rupert)
Birding:
Birding in B.C. (homepage)
Todd & Kathy Stockner
Dawn Chorus B&B
Tel: (250) 842-6401
Site designed by Todd and Kathy Stockner
Except as noted, all of the text and images on this site are copyright of Todd Stockner and all rights to them are reserved. Reproduction or commercial use is prohibited except with express written permission of the artist. The Dovetail/Fishtail logo belongs to Mykiss Fine Woodworking. The "Made with Macintosh" logo is the registered trademark of Apple Computer.
© 2007 Mykiss Fine Woodworking
