Likely is one of the few remaining Cariboo Gold Rush settlements. Likely was originally called Quesnel Dam. The name was changed to honour prospector John A. Likely of the Bullion Pit Mine, who was affectionately called "Plato" for his tendency to philosophize. He lies in an unmarked grave in Kamloops Cemetery. The Quesnel River was dammed near Likely in 1898 to enable downriver areas to be explored for gold. One such site became the Bullion Pit mine, which operated from 1892 to 1942. In 1935, this mine became the site of the largest hydraulic monitors ever installed in North America. (Hydraulic monitors are high-pressure and high-volume water nozzles used to wash down large volumes of gold bearing gravel during Placer Mining. Over 64 kilometres of canals were constructed to draw water from nearby lakes and creeks to feed the hydraulic nozzles, which used more water each day than the entire city ofVancouver did at the time. Today, the Bullion Pit stands as an astonishing man-made canyon measuring 3 kilometres long by deep. It displaced of gravel. Bactrian camels were used as pack animals during the Cariboo Gold Rush. One was shot at Beaver Valley, near Likely, by a prospector named Morris, when he mistook it for a giant grizzly bear.
Quesnel Lake is the largest lake in the Cariboo, with the North Arm extending 77 kilometres and the East Arm reaching out 100 kilometres. Ten to 16 pound rainbow trout, lake trout up to 30 or 40 pounds, as well as kokanee can all be caught by fishermen and fisherwomen. A highlight of a visit to Likely in late summer includes watching thousands of salmon migrate up the Quesnel River to their spawning grounds in the Horsefly and Mitchell Rivers. Visitors can also explore the historic ghost town of Quesnel Forks, only 11 km to the northwest. Cedar Point Park, an impressive stand of Red cedar on the shores of Quesnel Lake, is a nice spot to visit, now a park and campground. One of the Twin Giants lies there. The shovels weighed approximately 22,000 pounds each, and were shipped in pieces from Toledo, Ohio. Transported first by rail then by wagon to a site below the dam on Spanish Lake, they were assembled and placed on railway tracks to begin digging the ditch. It was reported that $20,000 were spent before the operations were suspended, leaving the shovels where they stopped work in the year 1907. .
