BC’s Weirdest Roadside Giants (the Giant Fly Rod, the Tin Soldier and More)

The world’s largest hockey stick is gone. Crews took it down in Duncan on Aug. 21, 2024, and the regional district now lists its removal as complete. If you planned a photo stop at the Cowichan Community Centre, you’re a little late.

The rest of BC’s roadside giants are still standing. Over the years, towns were encouraged to build some kind of landmark to put themselves on the map. That’s how you get giant skis in 100 Mile House, a giant gold pan in Quesnel and a fly rod in Houston that’s longer than most houses. Add a giant log-man mascot (metal and fibreglass since 1983), a retired mining truck, a burl that survived an arson fire and a cuckoo clock that yodels for coins, and you have a very odd road trip.

Below is where each one stands, the story behind it, how to reach it and what to time your visit around. It’s late October, so most of these highways are under winter tire rules. Plan for that.

12. World’s Largest Hockey Stick and Puck (Duncan, removed)

This is the one that started the list, and you can’t visit it anymore. The federal government commissioned the stick for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 86. It was 62.48 m long and weighed 28.12 tonnes. More than 30 communities and organizations competed to get it after the fair.

Duncan won. The stick was dedicated at the Cowichan Community Centre on May 21, 1988. Guinness recognized it in 2008. By 2023 the Douglas fir had decayed, and replacing it was estimated at $1.2 million to $2 million. About 70 per cent of roughly 3,000 survey respondents said to let it go.

It came down on Aug. 21, 2024. The last steel column was removed on April 29, 2025, according to the CVRD’s capital project report. A company turned the wood into collectible keychains, with bits of the stick, puck and blade wrapping inside.

The Cowichan Community Centre is still open as a rec centre. There’s just no giant out front.

11. The Penticton Peach (Penticton)

The Peach is a city-owned beach concession built in the shape of a giant peach, sitting on Okanagan Beach at 185 Lakeshore Dr. W. It’s half snack stand, half landmark.

It has a rougher history than you’d expect from fruit. During a riot at Peachfest in 1991, rioters rolled the original into Okanagan Lake. A replacement went up the next year.

The city signs operators to multi-season agreements. The city’s concessions run from May long weekend to September long weekend, so in late October it’s closed. Off-season, it’s a photo stop on the beach walk. Come in summer if you want a treat.

10. The Titan (Sparwood)

The Terex 33-19 Titan is a haul truck with a 350-ton capacity. It was built in 1973, hauled coal in the open-pit mines here and retired in 1991. It now sits in Titan Park next to the visitor centre on Hwy 3, and the Chamber says it draws more than 60,000 visitors a year.

The roadside signs still call it the world’s largest truck. The Chamber itself now says one of the largest. Other trucks have since passed it, including the BelAZ 75710. Up close, it’s still enormous.

In July and August, the Chamber runs coal mine tours from here at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. They take about two hours. Right now the visitor centre is on fall hours: weekdays only, closed weekends and stat holidays. Tour details are on Kootenay Rockies Tourism.

9. Mr. PG (Prince George)

Mr. PG is the city’s mascot, a giant man built to look like he’s made of logs. He stands 8.14 m tall and has a time capsule in his chest. He greets drivers at the junction of Highways 16 and 97.

He started small. The first Mr. PG, built in 1960, was a five-foot wooden figure that stood outside the former Simon Fraser Hotel on Quebec Street. An 11.6 m parade version followed in 1961 and marched in the 1963 Grey Cup parade in Vancouver. He moved to the highway junction in 1970. The wooden version was replaced in 1983 with today’s metal-and-fibreglass figure. In 2009 he showed up on a Canada Post stamp in its Roadside Attraction series.

City staff have proposed moving him downtown, because development around the junction has made the site hard to reach. The city’s Mr. PG page still lists him at Hwy 16/97, but check before you go. For the full story of the earlier versions, The Exploration Place museum’s 100+ Prince George Icons series has an online Mr. PG entry.

8. Ogopogo Statue (Kelowna)

This one isn’t giant, but it earns its place for weirdness. It’s a painted fibreglass Ogopogo in Kerry Park on the downtown Kelowna waterfront. It’s part of the city’s public art collection.

The lake monster is a tourism mascot, but it isn’t only that. Tourism Kelowna and the city both note that the syilx know this being as n’ha-a-itk, a sacred water spirit. Keep that in mind when you’re posing for photos.

7. The Tree Crusher (Mackenzie)

The LeTourneau G175 is more than 15 m long and weighs around 175 tonnes. It’s electrically powered and worked like a giant steamroller, rolling over standing forest and flattening it. It now sits on Mackenzie Boulevard.

It arrived at Kennedy Siding on six flat rail cars on Nov. 9, 1964. It was built for land clearing and put to work near Cut Thumb Creek. It got stuck again and again, but between Aug. 1 and Nov. 17, 1965, it still knocked down a huge stretch of trees.

Then it sat in the bush for about 20 years. At 8 a.m. on Oct. 19, 1984, two cranes loaded its six pieces and it was trucked into town. The Mackenzie Chamber’s visitor guide tells the whole story, including the winter it spent stuck in the woods.

6. World’s Largest Tin Soldier (New Westminster)

He stands 9.75 m tall on the Westminster Quay boardwalk, weighs 4,540 kg and wears size 60 boots. Guinness recognized him in 2002. The design is based on a Sergeant Major of the Royal Engineers Columbia Detachment, the unit that surveyed and founded New Westminster.

He was unveiled in 2000 as a charity fundraiser. Sheet Metal Workers Local 280 and SMACNA-BC donated all the labour and materials. The charity later handed him to the city. His time capsule was opened on Feb. 14, 2025. The city’s public art page acknowledges the colonial history the figure represents.

In fall 2025 he was temporarily wrapped for an art installation called Great Grandmother Tree. Whether he’s wrapped right now isn’t confirmed, so you may find him looking different.

This is the only giant here you can reach by transit from Vancouver. Take the SkyTrain to New Westminster Station. The River Market is about a five-minute walk and the Fraser River Discovery Centre about three. Pair him with lunch at the market and a walk along Westminster Pier Park, which joins the Esplanade to form a 2.5 km waterfront park.

5. World’s Largest Cross-Country Skis (100 Mile House)

Outside the log building of the South Cariboo Visitor Centre stand a pair of Fischer racing skis, each about 11 m (36 ft) long, with matching poles. They’re billed as the world’s largest cross-country skis, and it’s hard to argue.

They went up in 1987. Rick Hansen dedicated them that year during his Man in Motion tour. They came down on Oct. 1, 2025, for restoration and new Fischer graphics, and were back in place by April 9, 2026. If you last saw them looking faded, they’ve had a refresh.

Winter is the season that fits them. The South Cariboo bills itself as a cross-country ski area, and trail fees can be paid at the visitor centre. The visitor centre’s posted hours vary by season and the official pages disagree, so check before you count on getting inside.

4. World’s Largest Burl (Port McNeill)

A burl is an abnormal swelling on a tree. This one is about 6 m across and weighs roughly 30 tonnes. It was cut in 2005 from a 525-year-old Sitka spruce near Holberg.

Overnight on May 17 to 18, 2023, an arson fire destroyed its shelter and charred the wood. The town kept it. With $32,000 in placemaking funding, it was moved on March 10, 2026, to a new spot at the gateway to downtown. It now sits at the corner of Broughton and Shelley Crescent, scorch marks and all.

The previous record-holder, a 20-tonne burl found in 1976, is a few minutes away at SW Main Rd. and Hwy 19. See both on the same trip. The town’s Heritage Museum is about a minute’s walk from the new burl site.

3. The Gold Pan (Quesnel)

It’s a steel gold pan 5.5 m across. For decades it stood at the junction of Hwy 97 and Hwy 26, the Barkerville turnoff. It went up there in 1987.

In July 2020 the city moved it downtown to the train station, hoping to pull visitors into the core. It turned up in its new spot overnight and now sits at 710 Legion Dr., across from the Quesnel Visitor Centre. The city’s page has the details.

The best part is across the street. The visitor centre lends gold pans for free with a refundable deposit, so you can try panning yourself. If you bring your own pan, stick to designated areas. Tourism Quesnel is clear on that. Barkerville is 86 km east if you want the full gold rush detour.

2. Happy Hans Cuckoo Clock (Kimberley)

The clock stands 6.7 m tall in the Platzl, Kimberley’s pedestrian-only downtown, with the town’s name across the bottom. Tourism Kimberley calls it the World’s Largest Free-Standing Cuckoo Clock.

It was built in the 1970s to help set Kimberley apart. Drop in a coin and Happy Hans, a resin figure about the size of a child, pops out and yodels. Tourism Kimberley’s own pages disagree on whether it takes a loonie or a toonie, so carry both.

The Platzl is easy to get around with a stroller or wheelchair. Tourism Kimberley’s self-guided Platzl Tour starts at the visitor centre; Tourism Kimberley’s pages put it at two to four hours.

1. World’s Largest Fly Rod (Houston)

The rod is 18.3 m long and stands in Steelhead Park beside the visitor centre on Hwy 16. It’s made entirely of aluminum, anodized bronze to look like graphite. On the end hangs a fluorescent orange Skykomish Sunrise fly, built to match.

It was installed in 1990. The rod is Houston’s way of advertising its steelhead fishing to anyone driving the Yellowhead.

Stop after dark if your timing works. The town says the rod is lit at night. Inside the visitor centre next door, a grizzly bear mount stares down from a glass display.

When each giant arrived

Giant	Year	Note
Mr. PG (first version)	1960	current 8.14 m version 1983
Happy Hans cuckoo clock	1970s	sources give 1972, 1973 and 1975
Tree crusher moved into Mackenzie	1984
Quesnel gold pan	1987	moved downtown July 2020
100 Mile House skis	1987
Duncan hockey stick	1988	removed 2024
Houston fly rod	1990
Sparwood Titan on display	1993	restoration year per Wikipedia (unverified officially); retired 1991
Tin Soldier	2000
Port McNeill (Ronning) burl found	2005	moved March 2026

Heavyweights: what they weigh

Giant	Weight
Tree crusher	~175 tonnes
Port McNeill burl	~30 tonnes
Duncan hockey stick (removed)	28.12 tonnes
Tin Soldier	4,540 kg
Houston fly rod	~800 lb
Each 100 Mile ski	600+ lb

What’s changed lately

• Duncan’s hockey stick is gone. It came down in 2024 and the last steel was removed in April 2025.
• The 100 Mile House skis were away for restoration from Oct. 1, 2025, and were back by April 9, 2026.
• Port McNeill’s burl moved to Broughton and Shelley Crescent in March 2026.
• Prince George has proposed moving Mr. PG downtown. The city page still lists him at Hwy 16/97.

When to go

The giants are outdoors and free to see all year. The extras are seasonal. Penticton’s Peach concession runs May long weekend to September long weekend. Sparwood’s mine tours run in July and August. Sparwood’s visitor centre is on weekday-only fall hours right now, and the South Cariboo Visitor Centre’s hours vary, so check ahead if you need to get inside. Winter suits the skis in 100 Mile House, since that’s ski season in the South Cariboo.

Winter driving

It’s late October, and most of these stops are on Interior or northern highways. Winter tire and chain signs apply across the province from Oct. 1 to April 30. Legal winter tires carry the M+S or mountain/snowflake symbol and need at least 3.5 mm of tread, per ICBC. Check DriveBC before you leave, and go prepared for winter conditions on the high routes.

Road-trip clusters

• Cariboo run on Hwy 97: the skis in 100 Mile House, the gold pan in Quesnel, then Mr. PG in Prince George.
• North of Prince George: the tree crusher up Hwy 97 and Hwy 39 in Mackenzie, and the fly rod west on Hwy 16 in Houston.
• Kootenays: the Titan in Sparwood on Hwy 3 and the cuckoo clock in Kimberley.
• Okanagan: the Peach in Penticton and the Ogopogo in Kelowna.
• Vancouver Island: Port McNeill’s two burls.
• Day trip from Vancouver: the Tin Soldier, by SkyTrain.

Drive times aren’t confirmed here. Use DriveBC or a map app to plan legs.

What to bring

• A loonie and a toonie for the Kimberley clock.
• Money for a refundable deposit if you want to borrow a gold pan in Quesnel.
• Your own pan only if you’ll stay in designated panning areas.
• Legal winter tires, and chains where signs require them.

Safety and etiquette

Several of these giants sit right beside busy highways. Pull fully into the visitor centre or park lot rather than stopping on the shoulder. Prince George staff say getting to Mr. PG’s site has become difficult, so don’t improvise a pull-off there. The Tin Soldier and the Ogopogo both carry Indigenous context that their cities acknowledge. Treat them as more than a photo prop.

Quick reference: the standing giants by highway and region

Giant	Town	Highway or area	Worth timing around
Tin Soldier	New Westminster	Westminster Quay (SkyTrain)	Possible art wrap; status unconfirmed
Cross-country skis	100 Mile House	Hwy 97	Winter ski season; trail fees at visitor centre
Gold pan	Quesnel	Hwy 97	Free pan loan across the street
Mr. PG	Prince George	Hwy 16/97 junction	Proposed move downtown
Tree crusher	Mackenzie	Hwy 97, then Hwy 39	Outdoors any time
Fly rod	Houston	Hwy 16	Lit at night
The Titan	Sparwood	Hwy 3	Mine tours July and August
Cuckoo clock	Kimberley	The Platzl	Bring a loonie and a toonie
Burls	Port McNeill	Hwy 19	Two burls, minutes apart
The Peach	Penticton	Lakeshore Drive	Concession May to September long weekends
Ogopogo	Kelowna	Kerry Park	Outdoors any time

Losing the hockey stick stung, but it also shows what these things are. They were built to make you pull over, and they last only as long as a town keeps caring for them. Some get repainted, some get moved, and one got turned into keychains. The skis got new graphics, the burl survived a fire and a move, and Mr. PG may be headed downtown. If one of these is on your route this winter, stop while it’s still there. Check the road, check your tires and bring a toonie.

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Photo credits

• The New Highway upgrade at Lake Country Okanagan Valley, BC, Canada.jpg by Accuruss, CC BY-SA 3.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Highway 97 in Summerland, British Columbia.jpg by Kurt Bauschardt, CC BY-SA 2.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• British Columbia Highway 1 just east of Kamloops heading westbound..jpg by Colin Keigher at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.5 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Worlds Largest Hockey Stick (5696860977).jpg by Doug Hay, CC BY 2.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Canadian National’s Houston, BC depot in October 1971 (35943400411).jpg by Marty Bernard from U.S.A., Public domain (resized; cropped for the featured image). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Fraser River Plaza, New Westminster – panoramio.jpg by Weixi Zeng, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Quesnel gold pan (DSCF5046).jpg by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• World largest tree crusher.jpg by Dlogic, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Sparwood Titan Truck 2017 (34510676633).jpg by Thank you for visiting my page from Canada, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Kimberly Platzl, British Columbia, Canada.jpg by Ken Eckert, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• World’s Largest Burl (29348476734).jpg by David Abercrombie, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Penticton, BC – Peach Plaza 02.jpg by Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Statue of Ogopogo in a Kelowna park..jpg by Hamedog at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.