World's Largest Gold Pan + Quesnel Museum and Visitor Centre
Quesnel, BC
The former is across the road from the latter.
The museum is worth a stop if you’re in Quesnel and have time- it’s a good compliment to Barkerville, which is probably at least part of why you’re passing through Quesnel if you’re into this kind of thing in the first place.
Besides the gold rush stuff, the star attraction of the museum is a pretty legit haunted doll. Legit enough that I don’t feel like using her name or providing a direct link. You can google “Quesnel Museum Haunted Doll” yourself. Here is a picture of a cool old printing press that’s in there instead.
There is/was some controversy around the World’s Largest Gold Pan. It used to be at the Northern entrance to town on Highway 97, but it got moved to where The Rocky Mountaineer was to stop, by the train tracks across from the museum. This irritates many locals to this day, as 1) The Rocky Mountaineer is generally seen as a silly-rich-people-tourist-train 2) it isn’t going to stop in Quesnel anymore after October 2026 and 3) moving the pan was about as absurdly expensive as you’d probably think.
Here is the spot where it used to be, vs what the same spot looks like today. I'm inclined to agree that this was a downgrade.
.jpg)
Went: Spring 2026
When to Go: The museum is only open on certain days of the week; check their website.
Warnings/Notes: Can’t really think of any. But if you’re on your way to Barkerville, PG, or headed South, I strongly advise against stocking up on beer in Quesnel if you can help it. The liquor stores seem to almost never rotate their stock. You can find stuff brewed pre covid. If you’re headed North, PG has much better selection. I recommend Deadfall Brewing in particular.
Who is This For: Anyone who’s interested enough in a small town museum to stop. It’s a pretty good one. Makes a good compliment to Barkerville.