Road map Robson Valley surrounding area (BC, Canada)

The dramatic, glacier-gouged Rocky Mountain Trench is the  longest valley in North America, ranging from 3 to 16 km wide, and  spanning 1,600 km from British Columbia's northern border to Montana in  the U.S. To the west lie the jagged peaks of the Cariboo and Columbia  mountains, to the east the even grander Rockies, and running along the  flat floor of the Robson Valley are thin ribbons of water, asphalt, and  steel-the Fraser River, the Yellowhead Highway, and the Canadian  National Railway line. The Yellowhead Highway junction at Tete Jaune  Cache offers a choice of destinations: north to Prince George, south to  Kamloops, or east to Jasper.

Bowron Lake Provincial Park [D2-D3] On the western slopes of  the Cariboo range, this park is known internationally for its 7- to  10-day, 116 km canoe circuit, which takes paddlers through six lakes  (Bowron, Indianpoint, Isaac, Lanezi, Dandy, and Spectacle), two rivers,  and other waterways back to the starting point. Canoe carts are provided  along 11 km of portages. Reservations are necessary. Terrain in Bowron  Lake includes the rounded hills of the Quesnel Highlands and the more  rugged mountains in the east. Caribou, mountain goats, and grizzly bears  can be seen at higher elevations, while the lakes are stocked with  steelhead trout, Dolly Varden and kokanee salmon. There are also walking  trails near the campground.

Kakwa Provincial Park [A4-A5] This remote wilderness area  located on the border with Alberta showcases ice-clad mountains, broad  alpine meadows, and a section of the Continental Divide. Summer  activities include camping, hiking, fishing, and horseback trips; in  winter, snow-mobiling and wilderness ski tours. Wilderness camping is  permitted, but facilities are limited. Above all don't forget your  binoculars-wildlife species found in Kakwa include grizzly and black  bears, caribou, elk, wolves, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, wolverine,  and marten. The park can be accessed from Walker Creek Forest Service  Road or by air charter.

McBride [C5] Not much but the splendid beauty of nature lies  along the Yellowhead Highway except for McBride, nuzzled deep in the  Robson Valley. McBride began as Railway Siding 39 but now provides  services to farmers and ranchers in the area and welcomes backcountry  adventurers who come to paddle, heli-ski, or snowmobile. Horseshoe Lake  has a bird-viewing platform from which to see blue herons and bald  eagles.

Tete Jaune Cache [E7]

Yellowhead highways 5 and 16 split at the tiny hamlet of Tete  Jaune Cache, one fork winding southwest to Kamloops, the other northwest  to Prince George. "Tete Jaune" (French for yellow head) was the  nickname given by French voyageurs to Pierre Hatsinaton, a fair-haired,  dark-skinned Iroquois trapper and guide who worked for the Hudson's Bay  Company in the early 1800s. A boomtown of 5,000 people in the early  1900s, Tete Jaune Cache was the navigation center for stern-wheelers  hauling passengers and freight along the Fraser River to Prince George.  Bits and pieces from its stern-wheeling days can still be seen around  town.

SPECIAL INTEREST

Fraser River Salmon

The mighty Fraser River begins in the Rockies near the Alberta  border, carving deep gorges and broad valleys on its 1,370 km route to  Vancouver and the Pacific. Every year millions of salmon migrate inland  from the west coast upstream to their home river estuaries to spawn, and  the Fraser has one of the highest runs in the world with some 10 to 20  million salmon returning home. Rearguard Falls Provincial Park, just  outside Tete Jaune Cache, represents the northernmost point of the  Fraser salmon run. Bald eagles, seals, sturgeon, and bears feed on the  salmon, offering ample opportunity for wildlife watching on various  spots along the river.

Continental Divide

Every continent except Antarctica has a continental divide, a  line that divides which way water flows. North America's Continental  Divide runs from northwestern Canada along the spine of the Rocky  Mountains south through Waterton National Park down to New Mexico. The  Yellowhead Pass, 1,131 m above sea level, is one of the lowest gaps  along the entire Continental Divide. Rain or snow draining on the east  of the divide flow into the Arctic Ocean via the Miette, Athabasca, and  Mackenzie rivers. West of the divide, runoff feeds the Fraser River  flowing into the Pacific.