![]() Once you’ve taken the exit the road follows underneath the highway and continues west along Othello Road. Longer hike statsĭistance from Vancouver: About 2 hours How to get to the Othello Tunnels from Vancouverįrom Vancouver take exit #183 Othello Road on the Coquihalla Highway. Most visitors to the Othello Tunnels take the shorter hike, so the loop route is a good way to escape crowds and explore more of the surrounding area. Othello Tunnels hiking statsįrom the parking lot, head north west and follow signs that say ‘Tunnels Loop’. The longer loop hike takes you up through some beautiful forest and ends with the Othello Tunnels. ![]() Tunnel 3 sees you cross another bridge before heading through tunnel #4 where the trail ends. Here you can see the roaring Coquihalla River below. You’ll then come outside for a short while before the second tunnel.Īfter leaving the second tunnel you’ll cross a bridge. Walking through this tunnel plunges you into darkness for a while. Shorter hikeįrom the parking lot, follow the signs ‘To the tunnels’ alongside the Coquihalla River. Since we tacked a visit to the Othello Tunnels on to a pretty jam packed day, we opted for the shorter 2.8km hike to the end of the four tunnels and back. Or, you can take the tunnel loop hike which is about 5.5km. You can either take a short 2.8km hike to the end of the tunnels and back. There are a couple of different hiking routes you can do once you get to the parking lot for the Othello Tunnels. The railway was abandoned in July of 1961 and the tunnels and surrounding area became a provincial park in 1998. On November 23, 1959, a washout was reported and was considered too large to fix. ![]() Once finished the railway ran between Vancouver and Nelson but was plagued with snow and rockslides. The chief engineer, McCulloch, was a fan of Shakespeare and so many of the stations along the railway were named after Shakespeare’s characters. The tunnels in the Coquihalla Canyon were near the Othello station – thus, Othello Tunnels. It was decided that a straight line of tunnels could be dug through the rock creating what we know today as the Othello Tunnels. The trickiest part of the railway was the Coquihalla gorge. This railway became known as the Kettle Valley Railway which, whilst no longer in use, is still a popular hiking and cycling route. The tunnels were created in the early 1900s when it was decided that a railway was needed to connect the Kootenay region with the coast. They’re in a scenic area of the Cascade Mountains and while exploring the tunnels you’ll see a beautiful river canyon and forest. The Othello Tunnels form part of the Coquihalla Canyon Recreation Area. NOTE: Due to the flooding of November 2021 Othello Tunnels is closed. On a recent and spontaneous road trip with a friend we stopped off at the Othello Tunnels since most of the snow had gone. ![]() However, the trail had been closed for winter both times. First in October on our way to Penticton and the Okanagan, and then again over Christmas on our way to Revelstoke. The Othello Tunnels are just north of Hope (about 1.5 hours east of Vancouver) and combined perfectly with the Chilliwack Tulip Festival and the Ladner Creek Trestle. Another place on my BC bucket list that exists solely in my head and grows everyday, were the Othello Tunnels.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |