The Harrison River is a short but large tributary of the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual ...

, entering it near the community of Chehalis,

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, for ...

, Canada. The Harrison drains

Harrison Lake Harrison Lake is the largest lake in the southern Coast Mountains of Canada, being about 250 square kilometres (95 mi²) in area. It is about 60 km (37 mi) in length and at its widest almost 9 km (5.6 mi) across. Its so ...

and is the ''de facto'' continuation of the Lillooet River, which feeds the lake. The Harrison is navigable, although in the days of the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's ...

of it was necessary to dredge the sandbars at the confluence with the Fraser, which were known as "the Riffles", and also as "the Falls of the Harrison". Dredging of these shallows was needed to make the river navigable to Harrison Lake, at the north end of which the townsite of Port Douglas was established as the port for the

Douglas Road The Douglas Road, a.k.a. the Lillooet Trail, Harrison Trail or Lakes Route, was a goldrush-era transportation route from the British Columbia Coast to the Interior (NB another route known as the Lillooet Trail was the Lillooet Cattle Trail, which ...

Lillooet Lillooet () is a district municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. The town is on the west shore of the Fraser River immediately north of the Seton River mouth. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road abo ...

in the upper Fraser Canyon, in order to bypass hostile territory in the lower Canyon (see

Fraser Canyon War The Fraser Canyon War, also known as the Canyon War or the Fraser River War, was an incident between the Nlaka'pamux people and white miners in the newly declared Colony of British Columbia, which later became part of Canada, in 1858. It occurr ...

). There are also small rapids and difficult water in the first stretch of the river downstream from Harrison Lake, which is a forested canyon. Below the confluence of the Chehalis River, at the bridge between Chehalis and the Municipality of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, the river widens into a wide backwater, Harrison Bay, then from there joins the Fraser. In addition to the aforementioned bridge ( Hwy 7) the Harrison is also crossed by the mainline 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 Canad ...

at the site of the former milltown of Harrison Mills and the heritage post office and store preserved as

Kilby Provincial Park Kilby Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. Kilby Park is located in Harrison Mills, on the Harrison River overlooking Harrison Bay in the Upper Fraser Valley of southwestern British Columbia. It comprises with 30 ...

Natural history

The Harrison and Lillooet Rivers support a number of fish species, the most significant of which are

chinook salmon The Chinook salmon (''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha'') is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America, as well as the largest in the genus '' Oncorhynchus''. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other ...

(''Oncorhynchus tshawytscha''),

sockeye salmon The sockeye salmon (''Oncorhynchus nerka''), also called red salmon, kokanee salmon, blueback salmon, or simply sockeye, is an anadromous species of salmon found in the Northern Pacific Ocean and rivers discharging into it. This species is a ...

(''Oncorhynchus nerka''),

coho salmon The coho salmon (''Oncorhynchus kisutch;'' Karuk: achvuun) is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family (biology), family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientif ...

(''Oncorhynchus kisutch''),

chum salmon The chum salmon (''Oncorhynchus keta''), also known as dog salmon or keta salmon, is a species of anadromous salmonid fish from the genus '' Oncorhynchus'' (Pacific salmon) native to the coastal rivers of the North Pacific and the Beringian A ...

(''Oncorhynchus keta''), pink salmon (''Oncorhynchus gorbuscha''),

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coast ...

(''Oncorhynchus mykiss''),

coastal cutthroat trout The coastal cutthroat trout (''Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii''), also known as the sea-run cutthroat trout, blue-back trout or harvest trout, is one of the several subspecies of cutthroat trout found in Western North America. The coastal cutthroa ...

(''Oncorhynchus clarki clarki''),

Largescale sucker The largescale sucker (''Catostomus macrocheilus'') is a species of sucker, a type of freshwater fish, found in western North America. Description It has a rounded snout with a downturned mouth on its underside (as opposed to a mouth at end of ...

(''Catostomus macrocheilus''), and Redside shiner (''

Richardsonius balteatus The redside shiner (''Richardsonius balteatus'') is a species of cyprinid fish found in the western United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country pr ...

'').

Discharge

There are a number of

stream gauge A stream gauge, streamgage or stream gauging station is a location used by hydrologists or environmental scientists to monitor and test terrestrial bodies of water. Hydrometric measurements of water level surface elevation (" stage") and/or vo ...

s measuring water levels and

discharge Discharge may refer to Expel or let go * Discharge, the act of firing a gun * Discharge, or termination of employment, the end of an employee's duration with an employer * Military discharge, the release of a member of the armed forces from ser ...

along the Harrison River and Harrison Lake. The most downriver discharge-measuring gauge is located at Harrison Hot Springs, just below Harrison Lake. The river's mean annual discharge according to this long-operating gauge is . Search for Station 08MG013 Harrison River near Harrison Hot Springs However, the Chehalis River joins the Harrison below this gauge, near Harrison Mills. According to a gauge on the Chehalis River near Harrison Mills that river's mean annual discharge is . Search for Station 08MG001 Chehalis River near Harrison Mills Thus the mean annual discharge of the Harrison River at its mouth on the Fraser River is at least .

References

{{Reflist Rivers of the Pacific Ranges Tributaries of the Fraser River Rivers of the Lower Mainland New Westminster Land District

Natural history

Discharge

See also

References