Coquihalla Summit (el. ) is a highway summit along the

Coquihalla Highway Coquihalla may refer to: *British Columbia Highway 5, also known as Coquihalla highway * Coquihalla River * Coquihalla Pass * Okanagan—Coquihalla, a federal electoral district in British Columbia * Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park *Coquihalla Ri ...

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is the highest point on the highway between the cities of

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

and Merritt. It is located just south of the former toll booth plaza on the Coquihalla Highway, about north of Hope, and south of Merritt and is the divide between the

Coquihalla River The Coquihalla River (originally or more recently and popularly ) is a tributary of the Fraser River in the Cascade Mountains of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It originates in the Coquihalla Lakes and empties into the Fraser River ...

and the Coldwater River. Coquihalla Summit is the Surrey Lake Summit at and is the highest point on the Coquihalla, which goes from Hope to the Highway 1 interchange outside of Kamloops. The ascent to the Coquihalla Summit is very steep, especially from the south, and is particularly steep north of the Great Bear

snow shed Avalanche control or avalanche defense activities reduce the hazard avalanches pose to human life, activity, and property.Halq'emeylem language of the Stó:lō, is a place name meaning "stingy container." It refers to a fishing rock near the mouth of what is now known as the Coquihalla River. This rock is a good platform for spearing salmon. According to Sto;lo oral history, the ''skw'exweq'' (water babies or

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who ...

s, underwater people) who inhabit a pool close by the rock, would swim out and pull the salmon off the spears, allowing only certain fisherman to catch the salmon. The Coquihalla Valley has long been a major transportation route from the coast to the interior. In 1876 the Hope-Nicola Trail was built. The area retains some remnants of the

Kettle Valley Railway The Kettle Valley Railway was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that operated across southern British Columbia, west of Midway running to Rock Creek, then north to Myra Canyon, down to Penticton over to Princeton, Coalmont, Br ...

which travelled this route from early 1900s until 1961. Modern use of the pass began in 1986 after construction of the first phase of the Coquihalla Highway (from Hope to Merritt). Construction of this part of the Coquihalla Highway was spearheaded by Tom Waterland as MLA for Yale-Lillooet. His "conviction that the route provided important benefits and an essential link to B.C.'s Interior... helped to convince reluctant Cabinet members of the necessity of the third route to the Interior". After 10 years in office, Waterland retired from the Cabinet in 1986 a few months after seeing this part of the project through to its completion. Some of the old railroad grade is now part of the

Trans-Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extends ...

network, including the

Othello Tunnels ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Cyprus, Island ...

of the Coquihalla River section, which are accessible via exits from the Coquihalla Highway. A series of protected areas were established along the route in 1986. Following nine days of snowfall in February 2014, a Class 4 avalanche occurred across the Coquihalla Highway, north of Hope on February 20, 2014. Explosives, dropped from helicopters, and three days were needed to clear it.

Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area

Thar Peak from the Coquihalla Summit Area

Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area is a provincial recreation area centred around Coquihalla Summit. It encompasses of forested mountain slopes stretching from Portia Peak in the southwest to Coquihalla Lakes in the northeast. The recreation area was established on September 4, 1987 with the goal of protecting the transition zone between the wetter

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 ...

and drier

southern interior , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Interior" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivi ...

regions of the province. It also provides highway travellers opportunities for viewing granite peaks, wildlife and historic features such as the

and old Coquihalla Highway, both of which were earlier routes through the area.British Columbia Park
Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area
Retrieved: 2013-08-13.

References

External links

{{commons category
BC Ministry of Transportation and Highways Infopage
Canadian Cascades Mountain passes of the North Cascades Mountain passes of British Columbia Provincial parks of British Columbia

Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area

See also

References

External links