My family takes a lot of road trips through BC and every time we drive through Hedley, BC (in the Similkameen Valley, right before the Okanagan) we have to make a stop at Doug’s Homestead.

Tucked off the side of BC Highway 3 or Crowsnest Highway, Doug’s Homestead is a blink and you’ll miss it little spot. But Doug’s serves up some of the freshest and best jerky and pepperoni around. In fact, their jerky pretty much sells out by noon every day. Every time we go, it’s like a lottery…did we make it early enough for jerky?! No? Pepperoni is a great consolation prize and a great snack for long road trips. They also sell a selection of cured meats, local burgers, bacon and other things that will make carnivores’ mouths water.

We found this spot by chance about 5 summers ago, a few of our friends kept telling us to stop by, so we finally did and have been going every since. In fact, my husband is so addicted to Doug’s he was a little apprehensive about me writing this post, “What if people find out about them, and they get busy they start running out pepperoni too?”.  I guess we’ll just have to start eating the bacon?

The staff here are super friendly (like most small town mom and pop shops) and you’ll always find an interesting line up of people at Doug’s waiting patiently to pick up snacks. This stop, we ran into a stagette party, bikers, a few families on a Canada Day trip, and even local law enforcement (who by the way are always out in full force on the highways during long weekends, so watch your speed folks).

If you are any good at guessing weight, Doug’s also has a game where if you can guess correctly the weight of your total pepperoni purchase down to the cents, you get the entire purchase for free. We’ve never guessed right. A word of advice? Go a few bucks lower than what you think it will cost. The cashier there told us, people always guess more! Good tip!

Doug’s Homestead of open 7 days a week from 10 am to 5 pm, all through the summer. If you drive my Hedley, or are close by, be sure to swing by and grab a snack or two! Also, don’t tell my husband I told you.