british columbia visitor centre at merritt

We were just tooling along the trans canada on the way from Vancouver to Edmonton and noticed an inviting exit - for perhaps a cold drink- or more and we took it. We ended up in Merritt, and had a pleasant hour wandering around the older part of down town enjoying what felt like a slice out of your favorite 50'sd tv program about family values, and life.The visitor center is a welcoming agglomeration of knickknacks, information, free Merritt pins for your hat, postcards, and some of the weirdest ice-ream around - all of it tastes great , but check out the tiger ice cream- a cross between licorice and an orange creamsicle flavor, and many others. They still serve scoops like the 1950s big!.The people are pleasant and informative, and will direct you to various activities around town - such as cowboy painting on the walls of buildings, antique shops, whatever .Just an all round refreshing stop and change from the monotony of driving.

We travel between the Seattle area and Kelowna frequently and this is a regular rest stop for us. We love the gift shop for great post cards and wild life pictures. The clerks are informative and friendly. There is a small snack shop on site, which is convenient, but a bit over priced. There are plenty of bathrooms available, while not port-a-potties, they aren't very fancy either. They are functional enough to do the trick though! Plenty of parking available as well.

This visitors centre is just off of hwys 5 and 8 in Merritt. A nice view of the town and surrounding hills from this area. It is nicely treed with shade and picnic benches if you just want to relax for a bit before you head off in your car/ truck. camper again.Staff are very friendly and helpful. The log cabin decor is a nice touch. The day I was here there was a snack and Ice Cream stand open right beside the rest area.... well loved by the kids.

The people here are friendly and more importantly...funny! Always nice to visit with people with a sense of humour. You can tell these people love BC and Merritt. A grest Visitor Centre with nice trails nearby.

Touring british columbia recently we used many visitor/information centres. all were very very good with all the clerks being very friendly,helpful and very knowlegable. We could not fault any of them.

I've stopped here many times over the years while driving between the Okanagan and Vancouver. It's in a convenient location outside of Merritt at the junction of two 4 lane highways - Hwy 5(Coquihalla) running north/south and Hwy 97C(the connector to Kelowna) running east/west. Has a basic visitor centre/store with travel info and washrooms. The washrooms are usually clean but are too small and inadequate for the volume of people who stop here, just hope a bus hasn't pulled in ahead of you. There are also some outside trailer type coffee and food vendors but they are not always open. BC needs to look at the travel centres In Ontario on Hwy 401 to see how better the ones here could be. But if you need to stretch and use the facilities this will do.

This Visitor Centre used to be spectacular...with an upstairs Art Gallery in the main building and a wide variety of items for tourists to buy. Still, I wold rate it as excellent because it is still superior to the few other outlets in the BC Interior.

We recently drove to Kelowna and had to make a pit stop. The facilities are clean and the visitor information clerks are very friendly. You feel welcomed in the gift shop and in addition to cold beverages you will find something unique for someone or even yourself. Many excellent crafts, jewels, native creations. It's worth a walk through and you can stretch your legs at the same time. We liked it so much on the way north, that we stopped again on the way south and found some more interesting things...eyes open, they are hidden around corners...!

The staff are friendly, the building is cool, and the property is nice. There are some great trails off the property and good location for a picnic. The property needs some upgrades. The bathrooms are portables with flushing toilets but it takes away from the property.

Staff was very pleasant and helpful. Unique building and lots of interesting things to learn about Merritt inside the doors.

We stopped here for a break. It's a very popular place given that it's just off the main highway junction of 97C and 5. We found finding a parking stall can be a real challenge since it's so busy. We did find that the facility is kept pretty clean and there is a small food kiosk next to the visitor centre.