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Quesnel is a town in the north of British Columbia, Canada. Located nearly evenly between the two larger cities of Prince George and Williams Lake, it is on the main route to Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. It is also home to one of the claimed world's largest gold pans (disputed by Nome, Alaska and others).

Quesnel is sister city to Shiraoi, Japan and Val d'Or, Quebec. Quesnel hosted the 2000 British Columbia Winter Games, an annual provincial amateur sports competition. To the east of Quesnel lies Bowron Lake Provincial Park, a popular canoeing destination in the Cariboo Mountains.

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Quesnel was originally called 'Quesnellemouth' to distinguish it from 'Quesnel Forks', 60 miles up river. In 1870 it had been shortened to Quesnelle and by 1900 it was spelled the way it is now. Quesnel is located along the gold mining trail known as the Cariboo Wagon Road and was the commercial centre of the Cariboo Gold Rush.

The local historical city of Barkerville gave Quesnel its yearly 'Billy Barker Days' festival.

Quesnel runs on its forestry industry. Home to 8 different factories, including a medium density fiber plant, plywood plant and two pulp mills, it produces enough income to support more than 27000 citizens. Because of Northern British Columbia's small population, it is surrounded by lakes and virtually untouched wilderness for hundreds of kilometers in any direction. Quesnel's economy is also reliant on the tourism industry, the minerals, and many locally produced goods.