The Ashnola River is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Similkameen River The Similkameen River runs through southern British Columbia, Canada, eventually discharging into the Okanagan River near Oroville, Washington, in the United States. Through the Okanagan River, it drains to the Columbia River. The river is said ...

, rising in the northeastern part of the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, United States, and flowing north into

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, to join the Similkameen River about halfway along that river's course between the towns of

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

and

Keremeos Keremeos () is a village in the British Columbia Interior, Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The name originated from the Similkameen dialect of the Okanagan language word "Keremeyeus" meaning "creek which cuts its way through the fl ...

. The river crosses the international boundary at and transits

Cathedral Provincial Park Cathedral Provincial Park and Protected Area, usually known as Cathedral Provincial Park and also as Cathedral Park, is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of E.C. Manning Provincial Park, south of BC Highway 3, an ...

. It has one main tributary, Ewart Creek, which is about long and begins virtually at the border and is entirely within Cathedral Park. A gravel road from its junction with BC Highway 3 at the locality of Ashnola flanking the river is the main, and virtually only, road access to the park. The locality of Ashnola was that of a mining camp from the days of the many gold rushes in the

Similkameen Country The Similkameen Country, also referred to as the Similkameen Valley or Similkameen District, but generally referred to simply as The Similkameen or more archaically, Similkameen, is a region roughly coinciding with the basin of the river of the sam ...

and also the site of the Ashnola Indian Reserve (attached to the

Lower Similkameen Indian Band The Lower Similkameen Indian Band or Lower Smelqmix, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their office is located in the village of Keremeos in the Similkameen region. They are a member of the Okanagan ...

Name variants and origin

Older name-variants includes Nais-nu-loh and Ashtnolow (both from Lord, 1860), Ashtnoulou (1861), Ashnoulou River,

Trutch Sir Joseph William Trutch, (18 January 1826 – 4 March 1904) was an English-born Canadian engineer, surveyor and politician who served as first Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Early life and career Born in Ashcott, England, T ...

, 1871. An article in ''BC Motorist'' magazine claims that the meaning of Ashnola is "white waters" but other sources say the meaning is unknown. ''British Columbia Place Names'', a semi-authoritative work on the toponymy of British Columbia, says the original form of the name is that of the Indian village formerly at the Ashnola Indian Reserve, which in the modern spelling system of the

Okanagan language Okanagan, or Colville-Okanagan, or Nsyilxcən (n̓səl̓xcin̓, n̓syilxčn̓), is a Salish language which arose among the indigenous peoples of the southern Interior Plateau region based primarily in the Okanagan River Basin and the Columbia R ...

is rendered Acnulox.''British Columbia Place Names'', Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V, Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997.

References

* * {{authority control Rivers of Washington (state) Rivers of British Columbia Similkameen Country Canadian Cascades North Cascades of Washington (state) International rivers of North America Rivers of Okanogan County, Washington

Name variants and origin

See also

References