I think there are more interesting routes than highway 1, but it depends on what you like. I like mountains so my ideal route would be:
#1 to Hope, then hop onto the #3, check out Hope Slide (huge rock slide) and drive through Manning Park. Then you'll get to follow the Similkameen river past Copper Mountain down into Princeton. To the West is an area rich in mining history, the Tulameen river is apparently one of 2 rivers in the world that hosts placer gold & platinum. Head east on the #3 and maybe do a tour of the old Mascot mine on the edge of the cliff over Hedley?
Want wine and good food? Head to Kelowna and check out Layer Cake Hill:
http://m1.i.pbase.com/g5/27/593927/2/100607311.IDJsXOBY.jpghttp://www.minersoc.org/pages/Archive-MM/Volume_62/62-6-731.pdfThere seems to be some friendly guys on this forum from there that would probably take you out panning if you're into that.
Head up to Vernon. If you want to pay to dig up opals, head to the Klinker deposit and see what you get. Go east on the #6 and half way to Arrow Lake is a mountain called Lightning Peak where I've read you can find Peridot.
Cross the lake (free ferry) head north to Nakusp, then east to New Denver, then I'd take the 31A, check out the ghost towns in the area, and continue on to Kaslo. South to Nelson if you need supplies, then backtrack to Balfour and take the longest free ferry in the world across Kootenay Lake.
Might as well head south east to Cranbrook, check out Fort Steele, north on the 95 to Golden, East to Lake Louise, then Banff and Canmore. I'd recommend going south from Canmore on the 742 for some nice mountain views. That'll put you on the 40, head back north and east and you're in Calgary.
I think that'll give you some highlights of BC.
Some mineral hunting references:
https://www.cigem.ca/412.html Gemstones of British Columbia http://propertyfile.gov.bc.ca/PDFTemp/fileid_10358.pdfPotential for Gem Beryl and Schist Hosted Emerald in British
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