Savona (, originally Savona's Ferry) is a small community located at the west end of

Kamloops Lake Kamloops Lake in British Columbia, Canada is situated on the Thompson River just west of Kamloops. The lake is 1.6 km wide, 29 km long, and up to 152 m deep. In prehistoric time, the lake was much longer, perhaps 20x, with adjacent silt ...

, where the

Thompson River The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river ...

exits it. It is approximately halfway between

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

and Cache Creek along the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

. The countryside surrounding the community is semi-arid

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s and hills, which support cattle ranching and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. It has about 2000 hours of sunshine and less than 12 inches of

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

a year. It has a population of approximately 650. It was a stagecoach stop, the location of a ferry across the Thompson River, and later moved to take advantage of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

built on the south side of the river.

History

Savona was originally located on the north shore of Kamloops Lake, where it was the end of the

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

line from Cache Creek on the

Cariboo Wagon Road The Cariboo Road (also called the Cariboo Wagon Road, the Great North Road or the Queen's Highway) was a project initiated in 1860 by the Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, James Douglas. It involved a feat of engineering stretching fr ...

(later improved as the Trans-Canada Highway). Originally passengers continuing on to the goldfields of the Big Bend of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

had to take the

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

up the lake to

and the

Shuswap Country The Shuswap Country, or simply the Shuswap (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) and called Secwepemcúl̓ecw in Shuswap language, Secwepemctsín, is a term used in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia to refer ...

. Savona was first called Bout Du Lac by the French fur traders in the mid-1800s but around 1858 a man named Francois Saveneux built a ferry to cross the mouth of the Thompson River and then the town was renamed Savona's Ferry. In 1884 Savona was designated as the eastern end of

Andrew Onderdonk Andrew Onderdonk (30 August 1848 – 21 June 1905) was an American construction contractor who worked on several major projects in the West, including the San Francisco seawall in California and the Canadian Pacific Railway in British C ...

's contract for building the

(CPR) for the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

. Onderdonk continued building eastward under a CPR contract. As the railway was built on the south side of the river, most of the houses were pulled across the lake on the

ice Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaq ...

, moving the community to where it is today. Some buildings that were moved across the lake include the General Store. In 1915, the

Canadian Northern Pacific Railway The Canadian Northern Pacific Railway (CNoPR) was an historic Canadian railway with a main line running between the Alberta–British Columbia border and Vancouver, British Columbia. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Northern Railw ...

, now part of

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

, was built along the north side of Kamloops Lake. The Savona area is the traditional territory of the

Skeetchestn Indian Band The Skeetchestn Indian Band is a member of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation, located in the Central Interior region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its main Indian reserve is located at Savona, British Columbia. The reserve was set u ...

. Their main reserve, Skeetchestn Indian Reserve, comprising 7975.70 ha., is located on the north side of the

west of Savona, and reaching up the valley of the

Deadman River The Deadman River, also known as the Deadman's River, Deadman Creek or Deadman's Creek, is a tributary of the Thompson River in the British Columbia Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is about in length. Name The river's name dates back to ...

Services and attractions

Campgrounds

Steelhead Provincial Park in Savona has 44 campsites with firepits, picnic tables, showers, and flush toilets. 10 campsites have water and power available for users. The campground is located at the mouth of the

, and attracts many people looking to fish. Each campsite boasts wonderful mountain and lake views. The park is 38 hectares in size and is located 40 km west of

Kamloops, British Columbia Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

British Columbia Highway 1 Highway 1 is a Provincial highways in British Columbia, provincial highway in British Columbia, Canada, that carries the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH). The highway is long and connects Vancouver Island, the Greater Vancouver regi ...

. Historically, the land was used as a First Nations fishing site. In the 1800 and 1900s, it was used as a ferry landing to get across the Thompson River, as well as a stagecoach depot. The park still hosts multiple historical buildings and a cemetery. Steelhead Provincial Park is open from May 1 until October 12. Tunkwa Provincial Park is located 24 km from Savona on the Tunkwa Lake Road, midway between Savona and

Logan Lake Logan Lake is a district municipality in the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. History It was founded in the 1960s and 1970s to support copper, molybdenum and other mineral mining operations located south of the town. The Villag ...

. The 5,100-hectare park holds two man-made trout fishing lakes, Tunkwa Lake and

Leighton Lake Leighton may refer to: Places In Australia: * Leighton, Western Australia, a beachside locality In the United Kingdom: * Leighton, Cambridgeshire * Leighton, Cheshire * Leighton, North Yorkshire ** Leighton Reservoir * Leighton, Shropshire * Le ...

. This year-round recreational area is utilized for

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

, and

snowmobiling A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

. Many ATV trails surround the park, as well. Although the park is open year-round, full use campsites are open from May 1 until October 12. The Tunkwa and Leighton campgrounds hold 275 vehicle accessible campsites.

Juniper Beach Provincial Park Juniper Beach Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Thompson Country region of south central British Columbia, Canada. The facility is on the north side of the Thompson River, west of the town of Savona, and downstream from the Kamloops Lake ...

is located midway between Savona and Cache Creek on Highway 1. The 260-hectare park has 30 vehicle accessible campsites and is open from April 26 to October 14. The campground is located directly on the Thompson River and attracts many fishers looking for

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

sturgeon Sturgeon is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretace ...

, and

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

References

External links

"Savona, British Columbia" on britishcolumbia.comAn aerial view of Savona and Kamloops Lake
fro
Randall & Kat's Flying Photos
{{coord, 50, 45, N, 120, 51, W, region:CA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Designated places in British Columbia

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

Populated places in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Thompson Country