Fraser Canyon ~ Highway 1 ~ BC ~ Canada

We love rv'ing but winter travels can be treacherous in typical winter conditions.  Our options to travel south from Kamloops, BC include a few different routes but due to the recent snowfall warning for the Coquihalla Highway, we chose to travel through the Fraser Canyon.  It had been several years since we'd used the route, especially during the winter but the road conditions sounded good.

The Fraser River arrives in Lytton, BC

The Thompson River flows into the Fraser River at Lytton, BC where the Thompson Canyon meets the Fraser Canyon. The Fraser River continues through the beautiful canyon named after it and is the longest river in BC.  It runs from the Fraser Pass to Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains travelling 1375 km (854 mi) into the Strait of Georgia at Vancouver, BC.

Cloud formation in the Fraser Canyon

We only had a bit of blue sky to enjoy but the dark clouds made great paintings on the canvas-like sky with enough brightness to create reflections on the hood of the truck.  We enjoyed dry roads for most of our trip through the Fraser Canyon other than some wet spots from recent rain but we had mild temperatures that prevented any ice from forming on the road.

The snow level sits high above the railway

There had been snowfall overnight but the snow level was high above our roads and the railway that runs on either side of the Fraser Canyon rocky walls.  Early transportation through the Canyon before 1862 was on a narrow mule trail, so named as there was only room for one mule. The Cariboo Wagon Road was an improvement in getting through the canyon and was built by 1865.  Sections of that trail were destroyed when the railway was built as there was not enough room on parts of the terrain for both. 

The center of the Fraser Canyon is Boston Bar, BC

During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush 1858-1860, the canyon between Boston Bar and Spuzzum, BC was called Big or Black Canyon.  The ‘black’ may be due to the color of the rock cliffs when they’re wet.  When the CP Railway was built in the 1860’s, this construction cut off road access to Boston Bar and Lytton except for a difficult wagon trail.  We’ve come a long way since then.

The China Bar Tunnel in the Fraser Canyon

There are a total of seven tunnels that we pass through on our travels through the Fraser Canyon.  The one closest to Boston Bar is called China Bar Tunnel, named after an old mining area. It is a curved tunnel that is the longest of them all at 610 meters (2000’) and one of North America’s longest, the Yale Tunnel is the shortest one at 57m (190’).

Hell's Gate in the Fraser Canyon

At Hell’s Gate, where the canyon walls are about 1000 m (3300’) high, there is an Airtram that operates April to October that will take you on a ride down the canyon walls to see the Fishways, which opened in 1945. Previous to the Airtram opening in 1971, there were trails leading down to the river and I remember making that walk down with family in the early 1960’s.  If memory serves me right, there were no others on the trails that day, it wasn’t an easy trek back then!

Hell's Gate Tunnel

The construction of this portion of the Fraser Canyon Highway was a very tedious and difficult job and was considered a great engineering feat. It began in the late 50’s and I remember traveling through here as a young one and having to pull over to allow traffic to pass by before it was all completed in the mid ‘60’s.  The roads were narrow dirt roads and two way traffic and that made it a scary trip at times, especially when there was big construction equipment using most of that road.

The north side of the Fraser Canyon approaching Yale, BC

We have crossed the Fraser River on the Alexandra Bridge and we now follow the river along the north side.  The Yale Tunnel is the last one we pass through as we approach Yale, a once thriving town during the Gold Rush days. The canyon between Spuzzum and Yale, BC is called Little Canyon because it is the lowest part of the Fraser Canyon.  This is also where the steamboats were able to navigate to from the coast before the river became too difficult to continue.  

The Fraser River at Hope, BC

We’ve now reached the end of our travels through the Fraser Canyon when we reach Hope, BC, which is 108 km (67 mi) from Lytton, BC.  The small town of Hope, nestled in the surrounding mountains, is the intersection of 3 major highways.

We had left Kamloops by midmorning to avoid icy road conditions and were very happy to have also been able to not have any rain or snow to contend with, we really couldn't have asked for better winter road conditions and we're ready to continue onto some sunny places. 

To learn much more of what the Thompson and Fraser Canyons have to offer, have a look at 
www.travelthecanyon.com  .  They're a wonderful source of information.

Fraser Canyon ~ Thompson Canyon ~ BC, Canada

We love rv'ing and have travelled many different roads during every season of the year.  During winter months, weather conditions must be considered in order to decide the best route to take and on this trip we decided that the best road conditions appear to be through the Fraser Canyon. This is such a scenic drive and we haven't traveled this section of the Trans Canada Highway for a long while, especially during winter months so with the route now planned, we were on our way.

We begin our travels through the Thompson Canyon, Cache Creek, BC

Cache Creek is 193 km (120 mi) to Hope and pulling the fifth wheel meant we would likely take about two and half hours travelling through the canyon to reach Hope,  It is a rather dreary overcast day but the sights are great anyway and we're appreciating that we do not have any snow or ice on the road to contend with.  We barely see a dusting of snow up on the hills on this part of the trip and we expect to see more in winter.

The Thompson River offers a scenic drive

The Fraser Canyon is what most call the area between Cache Creek, BC to Hope, BC but technically between Ashcroft, just south of Cache Creek and Lytton, which is half way through to Hope, it is called the Thompson Canyon.  The Thompson River flows through this canyon and meets the Fraser River at Lytton, BC.  Lytton to Hope, BC is what is technically the Fraser Canyon.  This makes total sense knowing the two different rivers but I had never questioned that before because we appear to follow the same canyon.   Now that I have the correct information, I understand it but old habits are hard to break and you know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks :).

Waterfalls down the rocks at Spences Bridge, BC

The Thompson River at Spences Bridge has always been a favored spot for steelhead fishing and today we spotted a few people standing in the river with their fishing rods busy searching for the 'big' one.  I noticed this water cascading down the rock face across the river from the highway and I think there may be bits of ice on the rock but there is definitely water that is not frozen on this day making a great waterfall.

The Goldpan Tunnels in  the Thompson Canyon

Both the CN Railway and the CP Railways were built along the rockface along either sides of the Thompson River.  There and several tunnels drilled through the rock as well as structures built over the tracks to prevent rocks or snow landing on the tracks and causing problems.  A bit of history of the railways about construction through the Fraser Canyon can be found on my Kamloops blog concerning their connection to the railway.

The Thompson River appears calm before the rapids

Much of the Thompson Canyon is not very deep so we are fairly close to the Thompson River level.  The river is usually quite low at this time of year but that changes throughout the seasons. At this point we are able to see all the rocks that create a big challenge for anyone who may want to boat down the Thompson even with higher water levels; I understand it is one of the most popular river trips for those who like the whitewater rafting and a great day for those that do it!

The highway climbs up from the bottom of the Thompson Canyon

We are beginning our climb up the mountainside and leaving the river to follow at the bottom of the canyon,  We are driving on roads that are mainly wet but no ice and no snow to make this a difficult trip. There is enough water on the road to warrant using the window wash on occasion so always make sure you have those filled before you leave on this kind of weather days.

Snow capped mountains of the Lillooet Range

As we're approaching the Lytton area, we see some sunshine appear with blue sky that allow us to see the snowcaps on those beautiful mountains that are part of the splendor of the Fraser Canyon; that begins when we leave the Thompson Canyon at Lytton, BC where the Thompson River meets the Fraser River and continues onto Vancouver, BC.

More snow on the mountains at higher elevations

The mountains we see are part of the Lillooet Range with Skihist Mountain being the highest peak at 2972 meters (9750').  We can see there is some snow up on the mountains but less than expected at this time of year.  The weather seems to be different than our normal, no matter who we speak to.

We see the Thompson River at the bottom of the Thompson Canyon

We've climbing quite high in the mountains on the Trans Canada Highway (TCH), also called Highway 1 and are still amazed at how mild the day is and the conditions of the road make the drive stress free.  This most definitely makes the travel much more enjoyable than dealing with snow and icey roads.  We can see the Thompson River way down below as it weaves its way through the canyon to soon meet with the Fraser River.

So now that we've had our lesson on the Thompson Canyon - Fraser Canyon names, we will continue our drive down through the Fraser Canyon and see how good the roads might be on this section of the TCH for our winter travels.

To  learn more about this wonderful part of our province, click on the link to visit www.travelthecanyon.com to see all that there is to see.