Coquihalla River: Walked (May 25, 03)
Boaters: Rick, Gisela, Phil, Janez, Tudor, Keith, Claudia, Peter, Rob, Laura, me, and 4-5 other unknown names.
After boating, Rick, Gisela, and I went to check out the "Othello Tunnels" and the "Coquihalla Canyon" both at Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park. The canyon was breathtaking and so were the series of tunnels (5 total, completed in 1916). A trail through the tunnels was just an easy walk with flat gravel surface. I didn't bring my camera with me that time, so I found some pictures from the website to show you. This location was also used for filming several major motion pictures like First Blood (Rambo). The water was high on Sunday due to rain so the whitewater we saw at the canyon was AWESOME!
Here is a good detail map of Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park:
Directions: From Vancouver, take highway #1 east all the way to Hope. Slightly under 2 hours of driving. When you get close to Hope, connect to highway #5 (north or east) and take exit number 183 to Othello road. Keep driving on Othello road and turn left on Tunnels road as the road splits. If you keep driving on Othello road, it will take you back to Hope (good alternate road instead of highway #5). Tunnels road will take you all the way to the park and the park is also a good meeting place for boaters (as there are facilities). There're 2 take-outs just outside of the park. The lower take-out is the one closest to the park (1-2 minutes from the park?) and the upper take-out is at the junction when you want to get onto highway #5. If you drive from the park, it would be on your right-hand side, next to the river, where you can see a small parking lot and a tourist sign saying 'Othello Tunnels.' The lower take-out gives you another exciting class 4 drop. To get to the put-in, get onto highway #5 from the take-out and go north. Exit Carolina (or Caroline?) Mines road (about exit # 195?). Turn left, almost immediately, into a straight gravel road. Keep going (very short) and then you'll see a bridge on your right hand side. Go over the bridge and turn left immediately into a small dirt road (again short). This will bring you to the end and the put-in is just next to the river.
The Othello tunnels
Courtesy of Anthony Maw Photography http://www.maw.bc.ca
View of the Coquihalla Canyon from the bridge.
Courtesy of Anthony Maw Photography http://www.maw.bc.ca
Another pic of the canyon from the bridge. You can see that it's at a higher water lever than the second picture above - lots of whitewater.
Courtesy of http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/coqu_cyn/photogal/coqu_cyn.htm#
