Hope is where Hwys. 1,3,5
and 7 all meet. The city has a magnificent setting on the banks of
the Fraser River with the Cascade Mountains forming a natural amphitheatre
behind it. Hope is known as “the Chainsaw Carving Capital” and
offers walking tours to sites of 20 giant wooden sculptures, all
carved by local artist Peter Ryan. On Hwy. 3, Manning Provincial
Park has cabins, chalets and four campgrounds, and offers year-round
recreation. The Fraser Canyon is northeast of Hope on Hwy. 1. Its
sheer rock walls spiral down to the rapids of the Fraser River below.
(604) 869-2021
Attractions/Activities
- Hope Museum. Exhibits on Simon Fraser, the fur-trade
and gold rush days of Hope, Sto:lo artifacts and a restored
gold concentrator.
- Othello Quintette Tunnels. One of the world’s
greatest engineering feats, this series of tunnels was blasted
for the now defunct
Kettle Valley Railway. You can walk through these tunnels,
where the Rambo-series movie
First Blood was filmed, and over the two bridges that span
the spectacular Coquihalla Gorge.
- Hope Land Slide. Just east
of Hope on Highway 3, the remaining half of Johnson’s Peak is an
irresistible draw. The peak came tumbling down into the valley in January
1965 46 million cubic feet
of earth, rock and snow traveling at more than 160 km./h
(95 mph).
- Yale Museum. Yale (northeast of Hope) was once a booming
gold rush town of 30,000, with 17 saloons and 23 hotels.
Its population is
now 250, but the Museum gives a taste of what life used
to be like here.
- St. John the Divine Church (Yale). Built in
1859, and believed to be the oldest church in B.C., it still
stands on its
original foundations.
- Spirit Cave Trail. Just south
of Yale, an easy hike gives you a panoramic view of the Cascade
Mountains.
