Top 10 Places to Take a Photo in Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert’s coastal charm is easy on both the eyes and the lens. The area’s colourful waterfront buildings pop against the deep moody blues of its harbour and the rich greens of its rainforest-backed setting. Northern sunsets—famed for their ability to linger long in the sky—often appear in dusky shades of red, orange, and pink, while a tapestry of waterfalls, tall totems, and snow-capped peaks form a captivating backdrop to any shot.
Prince Rupert is photogenic on the best of days, but here are 10 places where you’re near-guaranteed to walk away with a frame-worthy photo—and lasting memory.
1. Seal Cove
Mixed-use industrial and residential neighborhoods tend to offer photographers plenty of photo-ops, and Seal Cove is no exception. This quiet area is located in the east part of town and home to a working salmon cannery, seaplane base, industrial buildings, and a few restaurants and cafes. On a moody day, you might capture the yellow-tipped wings of a seaplane taxing through the mist, while sunny days make Prince Rupert’s signature coastal blue and green palette extra vivid. The Saltwater Marsh, a short one-kilometre loop around an intertidal area, is perfect for your macro lens when you can capture marine life in full detail.
Seal Cove/ Tourism Prince Rupert
2. North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site
The North Pacific Cannery’s muted tones and years of wear-and-tear make it a dream subject to photograph. This now-defunct, 19th-century salmon cannery is located at the mouth of the Skeena River—already a photogenic setting—and features a series of buildings connected by a weathered boardwalk. The exterior lends a timeless quality to any shot—look out over crumbling moss-covered pilings, take in the peeling white-painted walls and faded green trim of the bunkhouses, and find interesting angles around every corner. The interior spaces offer soft, unique lighting and incredible textures, from the green fishing nets that hang in the net loft to the brightly coloured vintage labels of the general store. Golden hour is especially dreamy and with its location right at the water’s edge, you’re bound to spot an eagle (or three).
North Pacific Cannery/ North Pacific Cannery
3. Service Park
This small, manicured community park is perched above Prince Rupert’s main downtown core, offering a great panoramic of town. A short climb will bring you to the top of the park where you can look back over the buildings that line second and third avenue in the foreground, and in the background, the container ships that dot the harbour.
View from Service Park/ Shayd Johnson
4. Cow Bay, Mariner’s Park and the Rotary Waterfront Park
Cow Bay has delivered some of the most iconic images of Prince Rupert. This well-photographed area is home to the city’s most colourful buildings, kitschy cow-patterned references, and is perched overlooking the sheltered harbour and marina. It’s a bustling area that sees frequent foot traffic and lots of wildlife. Catch it on a quiet day though and you’ll find plenty of chances to wander around, finding new angles of the vibrant buildings and ships moored in their slips and out at sea. Mariner’s Park, located up the hill from Cow Bay, offers a sloping vista down to the water and one of the best angles to capture the grand scale of cruise ships when they’re docked in town. If you continue by foot from Cow Bay along the waterfront, you’ll end up at the Rotary Waterfront Park, home to the city’s whale sculpture, a sweeping view of the harbour at sea level, and Wheelhouse, a brewery housed in the former brick-clad VIA Rail Station.
Rotary Waterfront Park/ Simon Racliffe
5. Butze Rapids Trail
The North Coast’s unique vegetation is on full display at Butze Rapids, a short five-kilometre loop located just outside of town. The trail cuts through coastal rainforest—across swampy bogs, wetlands covered in sphagnum moss and dwarfed pine trees, past giant skunk cabbage, branches hanging in silver-green lichen, and reversing tidal rapids—before you meet the water’s edge. Each season brings something new to your lens, whether it’s the red-gold hues of autumn, the glittering blues of summer, or the frost-covered carpets of winter. It’s a popular spot for locals who use its easy-to-access beach and stunning seaside vistas as a backdrop to family photos, engagement shots, and wedding portraits.
Butze Rapids/ Marty Clemens
6. By Water or Air — Aerial and Boat Charters
The North Coast’s dramatic scenery extends far beyond Prince Rupert’s city limits—and what you can capture on the ground. To do it justice, you’ll need to take to the air or water. Luckily, there’s plenty of flightseeing and boat charters willing to whisk you to the more remote corners of this area. Bring a telephoto lens and capture grizzly bears munching on sedge grass from the bow of a boat in the Khutzeymateen, Canada’s only natural grizzly bear habitat. A floatplane tour will put the grand perspective of Prince Rupert’s backyard into full focus and offers incredible aerial angles rarely seen.
Aerial View of Prince Rupert/ Cleary Coastal
7. Mt. Hays Viewpoint
Short on time but still looking for aerial-esque views of town? The trek up to Mt. Hays is your best bet. This nearly eight-kilometre out-and-back trail is challenging in sections, but the reward from the top is worth it—especially if you time your summit for golden hour. Most of the view is obscured until the final few metres when you’ll reach a wooden platform that overlooks a sweeping view of the town, harbour, and remote islands beyond. Make sure to leave enough time and daylight to make the hike back down.
Mt. Hays Viewpoint/ Marty Clemens
8. Totem Park
Located across from the hospital and overlooking the town, this long, narrow park is a popular spot for sunset pics where, between leafy branches of evergreen trees, you can capture the dramatic silhouette of Prince Rupert’s watery landscape as the sunset lights up the sky.
Totem Park/ Tourism Prince Rupert
9. Tall Trees Trail
A steep but rewarding hike, the viewpoint from Tall Trees offers one of the best angles of the North Coast’s geography. While there’s plenty to see and photograph en route, the best shot awaits you at the top. As you summit the trail, the horizon suddenly opens and an expansive view of a blue-and-green dotted landscape unfolds before you, bordered by distant mountains, and framed by the spindly green arms of a coastal evergreen reaching for the sky.
Tall Trees Trail/ Shayd Johnson
10. Rushbrook Marina
If you’re after a quintessential North Coast scene, head to Rushbrook. This area is both a working marina and a scenic spot to hang out. The wharf itself is charming, with its red painted railings and vast array of boats, from weathered tugs to aluminum coastal cruisers to stately sailboats. Bob’s on the Rocks, a popular lunchtime spot for fish n’ chips, attracts eagles and other seabirds to the vicinity, while Rushbrook Trail, a short out-and-back hike that connects to Seal Cove, offers peek-a-boo harbour views from steel suspension bridges and treed outcroppings.
Rushbrook Trail/ 6ix Sigma
