Hat Creek is a tributary of the

Bonaparte River The Bonaparte River is a tributary of the Thompson River, joining it at the community of Ashcroft, British Columbia. The river is about long, including the length of Bonaparte Lake. Rising on the Silwhoiakun Plateau to the northwest of Kamloops, B ...

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 ...

, joining that stream at Carquile, which is also known as Lower Hat Creek and is the site of the

Hat Creek Ranch A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

heritage museum and visitor centre. The Hat Creek basin includes a broad upper plateau area encircled by the gentle but high summits of the

Clear Range The Clear Range is a small mountain range located in the angle of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers in south-central British Columbia. It has a small subdivision just northeast of that confluence named the Scarped Range. The Clear Range totals 16,27 ...

and, to its east, the

Cornwall Hills The Cornwall Hills are a range of mountainous hills in the Thompson Country of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. They are located west and southwest of the communities of Cache Creek and Ashcroft and form the divide between the basin of th ...

; this area is known as

Upper Hat Creek Upper Hat Creek is a rural locality and ranching community in British Columbia, Canada, located roughly midway between the towns of Cache Creek and Lillooet, located near the headwaters of Hat Creek. Comprising the upper basin of Hat Creek ...

. Adjacent to Upper Hat Creek is the gateway to

Marble Canyon Marble Canyon is the section of the Colorado River canyon in northern Arizona from Lee's Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon. Lee's Ferry is a common launching point for rive ...

and a rancherie of the

Pavilion First Nation The Pavilion Indian Band or Ts'kw'aylaxw First Nation or Tsk'waylacw First Nation or Tsk'weylecw First Nation, and also known in the plural e.g. Ts'kw'alaxw First Nations, is a First Nations government, located in the Fraser Canyon region of the ...

, who are both a St'at'imc and Secwepemc people. During the Fraser Canyon and Cariboo Gold Rushes an important trail northwards from the lower Fraser Canyon led from

Foster Bar Foster Bar, originally known as Foster's Bar, is a gold-bearing sandbar in the Fraser Canyon of British Columbia, Canada as well as the name used for the surrounding locality, which includes Nesikep Indian Reserve 6 and Nesikep Indian Reserve 6A ...

on the Fraser via Laluwissen Creek into Upper Hat Creek, then via the creek to the Bonaparte River. The economy of the basin is ranching-based and includes some of the oldest ranches in the

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

. On the northwest edge of the Upper Hat Creek basin there is a large

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

deposit and several exploratory pits, some dating back to the 19th century but some more recent, part of an intended, but now shelved (at least temporarily)

Hat Creek coal-thermal proposal A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

References

Bonaparte Country Lillooet Country Thompson Country Rivers of the Cariboo {{BritishColumbiaInterior-river-stub