Kettle River Recreation Area is a 179 hectare
provincial recreation area located inside a sharp S-bend of the
Kettle River approximately 6 kilometres north of the community of
Rock Creek,
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, ...
.
It is one of only two recreation areas in British Columbia, the other being
Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area.
Description
The recreation area features a public beach, a section of the
Great Trail of Canada, and a historic railway bridge that has since been converted for pedestrian use. Recreational facilities include a vehicle-accessible campsite complex, pit toilets, running water, picnic tables, and fire pits.
Hiking
Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...
and
inner tubing are popular summertime activities at this park.
The recreation area also protects a collection of old growth
cottonwood and dry
ponderosa pine
''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...
-
bunchgrass
Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...
plant communities.
[
]
History
In 1887, gold and silver were discovered in the region, causing thousands of American miners to flood the region in search of it. In response, the governments of British Columbia and Canada sponsored the construction 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, B ...
to better link the region to the rest of the province. Due to the challenging topography of the region, construction of the railway took nearly 20 years, by which time the gold and silver rush had largely subsided. The railway operated through the river valley from 1915 to 1973.Penticton
Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan and Skaha lakes. In the 2016 Canadian Census, its population was 33,761, while its census agglomeration
The ce ...
was removed. The abandoned right-of-way would later be reused as part of the Great Trail of Canada.[
]
References
External links
{{BritishColumbia-protected-area-stub
Provincial parks of British Columbia
Trans Canada Trail