Chilko-Chilcotin-Fraser: About the Region

Why The Chilko – Chilcotin - Fraser?

This journey of discovery is one of the most ecologically diverse and personally satisfying expeditions found anywhere. We'll start with a flight over the towering mountains and massive glaciers of the Coast Range to the Chilcotin wilderness. After an evening at the beautiful wilderness of Chilko Lake, we'll float 130 miles through the crystal clear, turquoise water of this incredible desert river, dropping over 3000 vertical feet. The Chilko-Chilcotin-Fraser is considered a Class IV river system with a number of extended drops. On the last day of our expedition we'll fly back crossing over the 2000-foot canyons of the lower Fraser and the lakes and mountains of the southern Coast Range. Experiencing such a variety of phenomenal scenery has made guests claim that this seven-day trip has been the best of their lives.

The Terrain

Our trip begins at the north end of Ts’yl-os Provincial Park. Established in 1994, Ts’yl-os (pronounced sigh loss) is 233,240 hectares in the Chilcotin Ranges of the Coast Mountains. Although Chilko Lake is the center-piece of the park, it is just one of many incredible natural features. Though there is much to explore in the region, it is rugged and un-serviced leaving its visitors up to their own devices. This is where we fit in.

The Chilcotin River flows near Nazko Lakes Provincial Park and Stum Lake Provincial Park. Both were recently expanded to protect wildlife habitat and BC’s only colony of nesting white pelicans, respectively. Upstream from the confluence of the Chilcotin and Big Creek, lies the new 660 hectares of rolling grassy plateau protected in Big Creek Provincial Park.

As rafters drift the lower Chilcotin and Fraser, they will see stocky California bighorns peering down from the cliff tops. Junction Sheep Range Provincial Park was established to protect the world’s largest non-migratory bighorn sheep herd. This is the heart of Chilcotin country, where steep escarpments rise from the river to horizontal plains, separated by vertical cliffs. These ancient lava beds were formed when massive flows of molten rock oozed from the earth, and spread and cooled, in step-like plateaus. Hoodoos, eroded by wind and rain, are the most prominent landforms. Our trip culminates at Churn Creek Canyon which is yet another new Provincial Park. Spanning more than 244 square kilometers, rare sagebrush and grasslands are preserved for our pleasure.

The Rivers

Participants are continually overwhelmed by the excitement and beauty of this natural corridor. The Chilko flows into the Chilcotin, which flows into the mighty Fraser making this free flowing waterway perfect to raft from May through September. When compared to busy rivers south of the border this circuitous system is considered a wilderness waterway. The dramatically different sections of river offer a diversity of scenery, wildlife and roller coaster rapids that will keep you grinning from start to finish. Obviously the Province of British Columbia agrees with us—as they have established more than 17 new parks in the Cariboo-Chilcotin region.

Cultural Notes

To aboriginal people of the Nemaiah Valley, Ts’yl-os is much more than a provincial park. Ts’yl-os was a man, or at least he used to be long ago, and like any man he had his moods. Given his towering height of 3,061 meters (Mount Tatlow on a map), it is wise to respect him and especially not to point at him. His presence can be so dominating that when occasional bad weather hits the valley, the 250 native residents wonder if it is a message from their spiritual protector.

For the isolated Nemaiah First Nation, their agreement on the park represents an important, but tentative first step toward reconciliation with the outside world. It is this world that led to the so-called Chilcotin Indian War of 1864 and the subsequent deaths of many. Today, that historic uprising against the white intrusion on to Chilcotin Lands continues to color the native’s psyche and the park’s future.

The silty confluence of the Chilcotin and Fraser was also a major territorial boundary. The Ts’ilhqot’in people of the Athapaskan language group, held a territory on the Northwest side of the confluence where the Junction Sheep Range is located. Small bands of natives traveled the Chilcotin watershed, hunting and gathering food. During salmon runs, these bands would come together at the mouth of the Chilcotin.