Lytton, the registered "Hot Spot of Canada", is located
at the confluence of the green waters of the Thompson River meets
with the brown, silt-laden flow of the Fraser Rivers. The community
is one of the oldest continuously settled
communities
in
all of North
America. Built on the site of a First Nations village known as Camchin,
the meeting place, Lytton was also a stopping place along the route
taken by hardy
prospectors as they made their way north to the gold fields.
The explorer Simon Fraser visited this site in 1808, travelling down the
great river (Fraser River) which now bears his name, seeking a route
to the Pacific. Simon Fraser stopped at Lytton, the point of the
confluence, and named the green tributary, flowing into the Fraser,
the Thompson River after his friend
and fellow explorer, David Thompson.
Attractions/Activities
- Whitewater rafting. Lytton is located between two world-class whitewater
rivers, the legendary Thompson and Fraser Rivers, the only decision
to be made in Lytton
is whether
to power raft or paddle raft.
- Pan for Gold in the Fraser and Thompson Rivers, following in
the footsteps of the Cariboo Gold Rush prospectors of the 1800s.
- Lytton Jellyroll an interestingly shaped geological anomaly. This unusual
conglomeration of silt, sand and gravel, formed at the end
of the last Ice Age, pays mute testimony to the incredible natural forces
that shaped
this area of the world many thousands of years ago.
- Skihist Provincial Park is filled with the scent of sagebrush. Situated
high above the junction of the Thompson and Fraser Rivers, the
park encompasses a section of
the old Cariboo Wagon Road, used by early settlers and travellers
searching for gold or riches.
- Caboose Park. Railway buffs will enjoyed the retired CN caboose in
Caboose Park, and the fabulous photo opportunities of the Cisco
Bridges crossing
the Fraser just south of town.
- Siska Art Gallery and Band Museum houses a unique collection of
traditional and contemporary Native Art Located
in Nlaka'pamux Tribal territory near the top of the Fraser Canyon,
the Gallery
also showcases superb soapstone carvings by local artists in local
stone.
- Goldpan Provincial Park right on the Thompson River is great
for steelhead fishing and the best time is mid-October
to December. If you're river rafting, you might overnight
here, as Goldpan
Provincial Park is used as a rest stop for many commercial river-rafting
companies.
