The Alexander MacKenzie Heritage Trail (also Nuxalk-Carrier Route or Blackwater Trail) is a long historical overland route between

Quesnel Quesnel or Quesnell means "little oak" in the Picard dialect of French. It is used as a proper name and may refer to: Places * Le Quesnel, a commune the Somme department in France * Quesnel, British Columbia, a city in British Columbia, Canada ...

and Bella Coola,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. Of the many

grease trail A grease trail is an overland trade route, part of a network of trails connecting the British Columbia Coast, Pacific coast with the British Columbia Interior, Interior in the Pacific Northwest. History Trails were developed for trade between ...

s connecting the

Coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

with the Interior, it is the most notable and often is referred to as ''the'' Grease Trail. The trail was originally used by the

Nuxalk The Nuxalk people ( Nuxalk: ''Nuxalkmc''; pronounced )'','' also referred to as the Bella Coola, Bellacoola or Bilchula, are an Indigenous First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast, centred in the area in and around Bella Coola, British Co ...

and

Carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

people for communication, transport and trade, in particular, trade in

Eulachon The eulacheon ( (''Thaleichthys pacificus''), also spelled oolichan , ooligan , hooligan ), also called the candlefish, is a small anadromous species of smelt that spawns in some of the major river systems along the Pacific coast of North Americ ...

grease from the Pacific coast. During his trek from

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

to the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in the late 18th century, Alexander MacKenzie was led by Nuxalk and Carrier guides, when natural obstacles in the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

prevented his continued water route. Mackenzie's group "took the Parsnip River, crossed the continental divide, and eventually canoed down the Fraser River to Alexandria just south of Quesnel. On the advice of local First Nations people, who guided Mackenzie and his party to the Pacific Ocean, they gave up the river route for an overland one. The overland journey started just above the mouth of the Blackwater River at the

West Road River The West Road River or Blackwater River or Tiyakoh is an important tributary of the Fraser River, flowing generally north-eastward from the northern slopes of the Ilgachuz Range and across the Fraser Plateau in the Chilcotin region of central B ...

west of Quesnel, taking them through the Upper Blackwater, along the Eliguk Lake and Gatcho Lake, through parts of what is now

Tweedsmuir Provincial Park Tweedsmuir South Provincial Park is a provincial park covering parts of the eastern Kitimat Ranges, northern Pacific Ranges, and the Rainbow Range in British Columbia, Canada. It was established on May 21, 1938 in the western interior of the pro ...

, over the Rainbow Mountains, into the Bella Coola Valley and "Friendly Village". The local people took the group down the

Bella Coola River The Bella Coola River is a major river on the Pacific slope of the Coast Mountains in southern British Columbia. The town of Bella Coola is at its mouth on North Bentinck Arm. Bella Coola Indian Reserve No. 1 the location of the main community t ...

, over the salt water into the Dean Channel." He reached the ocean on July 20, 1793, completing the first recorded transcontinental crossing north of Mexico. The route was designated as an official heritage trail by the Heritage Conservation Act in 1987. From east to west, the modern-day trail begins at the West Road River (Blackwater River) 53.269063 N,123.148917 W between Quesnel and Prince George, passes Kluskus Lake, Eliguk Lake, then crosses through what is now , Tweedsmuir Provincial Park, then follows the Bella Coola River to the

North Bentinck Arm North Bentinck Arm is a short inlet about in length in the Central Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is an arm of Burke Channel and is linked via that waterway and Labouchere Channel to Dean Channel, which is one of the largest inlets ...

inlet. Because of its length and difficulty, experienced hikers can expect the route to take about 18 days, whereas intermediate hikers may require at least 24 days. Also, hikers may choose to hike only sections of the trail, such as the route through Tweedsmuir Provincial Park which passes the

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

Rainbow Range

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more v ...

. Only a few hiking or horse riding parties, plus a few ATVs or trucks, pass along the trail each year. The middle section of the trail passes within 5 km of Pan Phillips' Home Ranch, popularized by the books by

Rich Hobson Richmond Pearson Hobson Jr. (November 27, 1907 – August 9, 1966) was an American-Canadian author who wrote memoirs of his life as a rancher in British Columbia. His books, ''Grass Beyond the Mountains'', ''Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy'' and ...

, ''Grass Beyond the Mountains'', ''Nothing Too Good for a Cowboy'', and ''The Rancher Takes a Wife'', and th
CBC television series
based on the same books. The Home Ranch closed operations in the early 1970s, but the remains of the ranch are in good shape.

Citations

References

* *

External links

Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander Mackenzie Heritage Trail Grease trails Historic trails and roads in British Columbia Chilcotin Country Heritage trails

See also

Citations

References

External links