Chun T'oh Whudujut / Ancient Forest Interpretive Centre
Join Us for a Special Soft Launch Celebration on August 27, 2026
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation is excited to welcome community members, visitors, partners, and supporters to a special one-day soft launch of the new Chun T’oh Whudujut / Ancient Forest Interpretive Centre on Thursday, August 27, 2026. This milestone celebration offers the first opportunity to experience a facility designed to share the culture, stewardship, language, and stories of the Lheidli T’enneh while deepening appreciation for one of the world’s only inland temperate rainforests.
The public is invited to join us for:
- Cultural blessing and opening ceremony
- Opening remarks from project partners
- Guided tours of the Interpretive Centre
- Family activities
- Cultural learning opportunities
- Refreshments
- Opportunities to explore Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut Park and its trails
Free Transportation for Lheidli T’enneh Members
Free bus transportation will be available for Lheidli T’enneh members attending the soft launch on August 27. Shuttle service will depart from designated North and South Prince George locations and provide transportation directly to the Ancient Forest. Advance registration is required by calling 250-562-0847.
Looking Ahead
Following the August 27 soft launch, the Interpretive Centre is expected to reopen to visitors as part of the 2027 operating season, tentatively scheduled for May 2027, subject to final operational preparations and scheduling.
A Place Rooted in Story, Culture, and Stewardship
Located within the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, the Ancient Forest has been stewarded by the Nation since time immemorial. For generations, Lheidli T’enneh people have travelled through and cared for this landscape, gathering medicines and traditional resources, sharing knowledge, teaching younger generations, and maintaining deep cultural and spiritual connections to the land.
The Interpretive Centre was envisioned as more than a visitor facility. It was designed as a place where culture, stewardship, learning, and conservation come together, creating opportunities for visitors to better understand the relationship between the Lheidli T’enneh and Chun T’oh Whudujut while learning about the unique inland temperate rainforest ecosystem surrounding them.
At the heart of the centre’s philosophy is a traditional teaching that will be featured within the building:
Uda ‘uda duchun ‘ink’e khunai cha dune inle.
Long ago, the trees and animals were people too.
This teaching speaks to the deep interconnectedness between people, animals, forests, and the natural world, and reminds visitors of the responsibility we all share to care for the lands and waters that sustain future generations.
Inspired by Traditional Dakelh Architecture
Designed by Scott M. Kemp Architect in collaboration with Lheidli T’enneh members and the Ancient Forest Working Group, the Interpretive Centre draws inspiration from traditional Dakelh pit houses and gathering spaces. From the earliest stages of planning, the design process brought together Indigenous knowledge, community perspectives, stewardship values, environmental considerations, and modern sustainable building practices.
Rather than simply creating a building, the goal was to create a place that tells a story. Every aspect of the facility was intentionally designed to reflect the relationship between people, culture, and the land.
The Fire Pit: Heart of the Building
At the centre of the Interpretive Centre, an impressive fire pit serves as both a focal point and a powerful symbol of the gathering places that traditionally formed the heart of a Dakelh pit house. Historically, the fire provided warmth and light, but it was also where families gathered to share stories, pass on teachings, celebrate milestones, resolve challenges, and strengthen connections between generations.
For Indigenous communities, fire has long been about more than heat. It is a place of learning, healing, relationship-building, and knowledge transfer. Around the fire, Elders shared teachings, children learned cultural values, and families reinforced the bonds that connected communities and sustained traditions.
Within the Interpretive Centre, the fire pit symbolizes the ongoing transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. It creates a welcoming gathering place where visitors can learn about Dakelh culture, reflect on the stories of Chun T’oh Whudujut, and better understand the enduring relationship between the Lheidli T’enneh and the land. It reminds visitors that the Ancient Forest is not only an ecological treasure, but also a living cultural landscape whose stories continue to be shared and carried forward.
Exposed Timber Beams
Radiating from the central gathering space are massive exposed timber beams that form one of the building’s most striking architectural features. The specialty logs used throughout the structure were sourced and prepared through the direct involvement of Lheidli T’enneh community members, creating a visible connection between the forest, the building, and the people who helped bring it to life.
Environmental Stewardship Through Design
The building was designed to reflect Lheidli T’enneh stewardship values while minimizing its environmental footprint. Features include:
- A living roof
- Solar power generation
- Natural building materials
- Low-impact design approaches that complement the surrounding environment
Together, these elements create a facility designed to sit lightly within a forest that has stood for centuries while reflecting the same stewardship values that have guided Lheidli T’enneh relationships with the land for generations.
Built by Community, Rooted in Stewardship
One of the most remarkable aspects of the Interpretive Centre is the direct involvement of Lheidli T’enneh members in helping bring the project to life.
From the earliest stages of development, community members helped identify suitable trees for the specialty logs now featured prominently within the building. Members participated in harvesting, preparing, and transporting timber, coordinating milling and treatment through Carrier Lumber, and helping shape structural elements that would become some of the centre’s defining architectural features. Together, community members contributed approximately 1,800 hours of labour, ensuring the project remained rooted in Lheidli T’enneh stewardship values while creating opportunities for skills development, cultural connection, and community pride.
As community member Glen Bjorklund, who helped coordinate the preparation of the specialty logs, explains:
“Every log in this building tells a story. We watched these trees standing in our territory, helped prepare them, and now we see them become part of a place that will teach future generations about our culture, our stewardship responsibilities, and our connection to the land. That’s something our community can be proud of.”
The project reflects a broader philosophy that recognizes the connection between healthy forests, cultural continuity, stewardship, economic opportunity, and future generations. By involving community members throughout the process, the Interpretive Centre became more than a construction project. It became an expression of Indigenous stewardship in action.
From standing trees in the territory to the finished structure that visitors experience today, the building itself tells a story of participation, pride, stewardship, and connection to the land. The timber harvested, prepared, and installed by Lheidli T’enneh members now forms part of a place designed to welcome visitors, celebrate culture, and share knowledge for generations to come.
A Story Thousands of Years in the Making
The story of Chun T’oh Whudujut did not begin with the creation of a park, a trail, or an interpretive centre.
The Ancient Forest lies within the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh and has been stewarded by the Nation since time immemorial. For generations, Lheidli T’enneh people travelled through and cared for this landscape, gathering medicines and traditional resources, sharing knowledge, teaching younger generations, and maintaining cultural and spiritual connections to the land. The forest served as a place of learning and cultural transmission where knowledge about plants, wildlife, harvesting practices, and relationships with the natural world was passed from one generation to the next.
Many families travelled to the area from seasonal fishing camps along the upper Fraser River. These journeys formed part of a broader network of travel routes, harvesting areas, and culturally significant places that connected people to the territory for countless generations.
Throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, colonial policies disrupted Indigenous land use and cultural practices, while railway construction, highway development, and logging activity dramatically altered the surrounding landscape. Despite those pressures, the Ancient Forest remained an important cultural landscape for the Lheidli T’enneh.
Beginning in the 1980s and 1990s, local advocates, volunteers, researchers, and conservation groups began working together to protect what remained. Organizations such as the Save the Cedar League helped raise awareness of the inland rainforest, while researchers documented the area’s exceptional biodiversity and ecological significance. Later, pioneering work by UNBC graduate student Dave Radies helped bring broader attention to the Ancient Forest’s unique ecological values and strengthened the case for permanent protection.
Community volunteers also played a critical role. The Caledonia Ramblers Hiking Club, led by champions including Nowell Senior and Dave King, helped design and build the original trail network and universally accessible boardwalk, opening the forest to visitors and helping demonstrate the importance of protecting it. Their efforts were supported by researchers, community organizations, local residents, and Indigenous leadership who believed this remarkable place deserved a permanent future.
These collective efforts eventually resulted in the establishment of Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut Class A Provincial Park in 2016, protecting more than 11,000 hectares of inland temperate rainforest and prohibiting commercial logging within park boundaries. The park’s dual name recognizes both the ecological significance of the forest and its enduring connection to the Lheidli T’enneh. In 2018, Lheidli T’enneh and BC Parks signed a Memorandum of Understanding to guide the future stewardship and management of the park together.
Explore the Ancient Forest Timeline
The Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut Park and Protected Area is the result of decades of stewardship, advocacy, scientific research, volunteerism, and collaboration. While the Interpretive Centre offers a simplified timeline highlighting major milestones in the park’s history, the expanded timeline tells the deeper story of the individuals, organizations, researchers, volunteers, and community groups whose efforts helped shape the project and protect the forest.
As new stories, photographs, and historical information are gathered, this living record will continue to grow, helping ensure the many contributions made over the years are recognized and preserved for future generations.
Project Funding
Construction of the Chun T’oh Whudujut / Ancient Forest Interpretive Centre was supported through more than $7.8 million in combined federal and provincial funding through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program’s Community, Culture and Recreation stream, including more than $6.5 million from the Government of Canada and more than $1.3 million from the Province of British Columbia.
Lheidli T’enneh First Nation also made a substantial investment in the project, contributing approximately $870,000 toward construction, in addition to more than $400,000 in staffing, administration, community engagement, project management, and other project-related costs. Together, these investments helped create a facility that reflects the Nation’s commitment to cultural revitalization, stewardship, education, and sustainable tourism.
Visit Chun T'oh Whudujut
Whether you are visiting for the first time or returning to experience the Ancient Forest from a new perspective, the Interpretive Centre is designed to deepen your understanding of the culture, history, ecology, and stewardship that make this place truly remarkable.
We look forward to welcoming you to Chun T’oh Whudujut.
“Long ago, the trees and animals were people too.”
A place of learning. A place of connection. A place where stories continue to be shared for generations to come.
In the News
The opening of the Chun T’oh Whudujut / Ancient Forest Interpretive Centre has attracted attention from media outlets, community organizations, visitors, and project partners across British Columbia and beyond.
News Stories
- Prince George Citizen -Visitors get their first look at the new Ancient Forest interpretive centre – August 27, 2026
- CBC – New Ancient Forest interpretive centre traces Lheidli T’enneh connection to rare ecosystem – July 28, 2026
- Prince George Citizen – New interpretive centre taking shape at Ancient Forest – July 23, 2026
- Western Living: Local Getaways: Walking B.C.’s Ancient Forest Trail, One Quiet Step at a Time – May 15, 2025
Videos & Interviews
- CBC – B.C.’s rare inland rainforest brought to life at new Lheidli T’enneh interpretive centre – July 29, 2026
- CKPG Today – Get a sneak peek inside the Ancient Forest’s new one-of-a-kind cultural centre – July 9, 2026
- BC Business – Walk among 1,000-year-old cedars on this reclaimed B.C. rainforest trail – June 20, 2025
- CBC – New interpretive centre to welcome visitors to Ancient Forest Provincial Park – May 26, 2025
Related Resources
- Learn more about Chun T’oh Whudujut / Ancient Forest
- Explore the Full Ancient Forest Timeline
- BC Parks: Ancient Forest / Chun T’oh Whudujut
Check back regularly as new stories, photographs, interviews, and videos are added.
