Behind the lens on the rivers and roads in Peace River, with Paul Lavoie

So how do you make the most of it all? Lavoie, who grew up here and spends countless days in his region each year capturing it, offered up tips on five of his favourite places to visit and shoot. 

5 top Peace River hot spots

From river adventures to organic foodie spots, Lavoie takes us through these iconic Mighty Peace must-visit spots.

Valley Bee Cafe and Hive Hero

Visiting Valley Bee Cafe is like walking into the heart of a bee hive, a "buzzing hub of bilingual activity" where you can learn and enjoy the love of all things bees. The cafe is run by Hive Hero, a family enterprise multiple generations deep, devoted to raising bees and producing honey and pollen sustainably. 

"Peace River region honey is world-famous, because of the daylight hours we get in our growing season, it makes the honey extremely flavorful and some of the best honey in the world," says Lavoie. 

"Hive Hero is run by the Paradis family, and there's a whole wall mural that tells the history of the honey business in the area, four to five generations of beekeepers, with the original homesteaders."

Be picky, explore the Mighty Peace

Find rivers, natural space and awesome places on your visit to Mighty Peace 

"At the cafe they do incredible stuff—there's a little coffee shop where you can actually watch a live bee hive in the process while you're sitting having coffee. It's an amazing spot!" 

On this shoot, says Paul, the father-daughter duo in the photo were hamming it up. "He ended up putting some honey on his daughter's nose which she wasn't too impressed by," laughs Paul, "but it was a lot of fun!"

Dunvegan Market Gardens

It was one of those perfect moments, as Lavoie tells it: “Right at the bottom of the Dunvegan Bridge, is the Dunvegan Market Gardens, with a u-pick strawberry patch. I turn around and my model is halfway down the patch, on her own, picking and sampling, just having a moment."

"I call to her to turn around and she already had the strawberry in her mouth," he laughs, then adds, "Some of the best strawberries you'll ever have in your life!" 

Peace River Adventures

"When in Peace River, you've got to get on the river," Paul advises. It's in the name after all, and Peace River Adventures can help you custom-build your days on the water.

For the above photo and the banner photo at the top of this story, Paul recalls, "We had set out up the Smoky River that day, spent the day on the beach—it was a rough day of work—paddleboarding, taking pictures and having a barbecue."

"It was a beautiful day on the water, sunniest day of the year, almost plus 40."

"We had lost our light from the beach and we were headed back to town and all of a sudden the sun started popping out again. That sunset is one of my favourite shots of the whole year!" 

Mighty Peace Tourism River Guide

The river guide will take you not just to one place, but many, and the region's rich river system is worth the exploration.

"All my life in Peace River and I've never done some sections of the river we did on this trip," says Lavoie, in awe. "We started at the BC border, traveling over 650 kilometres of river during this tour, which is unheard of."

With GPS locations, info and imagery, the new guidebook that Lavoie and team produced opens up the entire river system for your paddling pleasure.

"We were working to re-create an old guide book from the 90s... from Clayhurst at the BC border to Sunny Valley east of Manning. 

"What was really incredible about this trip was having all the history along with us, using the guide, imagining what it was like for Alexander MacKenzie and the explorers when they saw it."

The photo above was taken during guidebook production. On that particular morning, Paul recalls: "We were passing under the famous Golden Gate Bridge of the north, the Dunvegan Bridge, on a foggy morning, and we had just left camp. It's pretty epic to pass under. 

"The rivers in the north are so vast, with steep cliffs and wide valleys. The Peace River valley is pretty special, you don't have to go far to be alone in the wilderness, and you can go whole days without seeing another boat. 

"It's not crazy challenging but you can get flowing pretty good."

Peace River Brewing and Distillery

Lastly, Paul highlights, is the community. Peace River Brewing is one of those places that brings people together, and this photo tells the story: 

"After shooting a couple events with some visiting creators, we hit my favourite local place—always great supporters of me and my photography—and there's this Francophone Indigenous band from Northern Quebec there on an Alberta Arts performance tour, singing in their own languages. 

"It was a packed house on a Friday night, great atmosphere at the brewery, great beers and it was just incredible."

Great atmosphere, great community and that fresh natural feel of adventure at every turn is classic Mighty Peace, Lavoie explains.

"In Peace country it's not what you might expect from northern Alberta, we're not the typical flat prairies. 

"You come in to the valley and it's a vast array of pure wilderness, with everything close at hand—you want to be out of town away from people it will take you five minutes, wide open skies, northern lights or downtown on a patio having a drink with friends, it's all five minutes away. 

We're not stressed out here, people will give you space and you can be a little more free."

When you go

Get to know Peace River and the Mighty Peace region via Mighty Peace Tourism.

Getting there

5h via Hwy AB 43-N from Edmonton
2h via Hwy AB2N/2E from Grande Prairie

Add some festivals or events into your plans, check out this story on FestivalSeekers on the Peace region festival scene.

For more on where to stay, things to do and places to eat, visit Mighty Peace Tourism