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Lillooet
Lillooet is located 87 km (54 miles) south of Cache
Creek and 100 km (63 miles) north of Pemberton
on Hwy 99 in the southern part of British Columbia's Cariboo Chilcotin
Coast Region.
Travelling
Here
To get here from the Trans-Canada Hwy 1, either travel to Lytton
and then take Hwy 12 or take Hwy 99 from just north of Cache
Creek at the junction of Hwy 97. The Hwy 12 route goes along
beautiful vistas of the Fraser River bench lands, whereas Hwy 99
takes you past the historic Hat Creek Ranch, Marble Canyon Provincial
Park and Pavilion.
Famed
Gold Rush
Lillooet played a large part in helping to settle the population
throughout the heartland and northern BC during the famed gold rush
of the late 1800's. People would take riverboats up the Fraser River,
then travel by stagecoach farther north into the Cariboo from Lillooet.
Mile
"0"
Lillooet was officially known as Mile "0" when travelling
up the Cariboo Trail along the Cariboo Pavilion Road. Other community
names in the Cariboo region reflected this fact when distances were
calculated. Names such as 70 Mile House, 100
Mile House, 108 Mile Ranch and 150 Mile House were named from
the mileage back to Lillooet at the starting point.
1860
At it's height in 1860 Lillooet had the largest population west
of Chicago with the exception of only San Francisco. This was the
gold rush in the Cariboo and Lillooet was buzzing with activity
of dreamers, miners, fortune hunters and their hopes of future discovery
of gold.
Climate
Similar to Lytton and Osoyoos
You will find Lillooet is blessed with a climate very similar to
Lytton or Osoyoos
and can lay claim to some of the highest summer temperatures in
Canada. Not only are the summers very enjoyable but also the winters
tend to be quite tolerable - dry with beautiful blue skies and very
little snow on the ground.
'The
Old Bridge'
Walking around Lillooet is very relaxing and quite pretty especially
along the Fraser River benches. Take your time and walk or cycle
over the 1913-built suspension bridge, known locally as 'The Old
Bridge' into town and follow the path of past explorers.
Heritage
Tour and Lillooet Museum
Once in Lillooet, take note of all the heritage buildings and icons
placed throughout Main Street. If you have the time, please take
in the heritage tour called, 'Lillooet's Golden Mile of History'
or visit the Lillooet Museum which shows artifacts of the proud
history found throughout the region.
Lillooet
Jade Park
When you visit Lillooet, one thing you'll notice are the beautiful
carvings and monuments of jade that are displayed at the spectacular
Lillooet Jade Park found on Main Street. The park was developed
by George Vanderwolf and other volunteers to help publicize the
fact that the official gemstone of British Columbia was found not
only in Dease Lake
but also in Lillooet.
Limitless
Adventure
For people who love the outdoors, Lillooet is limitless with adventure
and discovery. The list is endless from viewing the Seton river
spawning channel, fishing for sturgeon on the Fraser, golfing, mountain-biking,
heli-biking, hiking, rock hounding, trout fishing at Fountain Lake
to hunting big game in the alpine meadows surrounding the town.
Kwotlanemo
(Fountain) Lake
A real local favourite is to try the trout fishing at Kwotlanemo
(Fountain) Lake. You have to travel from Lillooet north on Hwy 99
to the small settlement of Fountain. From here, you turn off on
a gravel road and travel up the Fountain Valley to Kwotlanemo (Fountain)
Lake. Or, you can also get to Fountain Lake off of Hwy 12 coming
from Lytton.
Fishing
at Bridge River
One thing you might want to see is the local First Nation fish-making,
wind-dried salmon called ts'wan. Go to the point where the Bridge
River enters into the Fraser River on the road to Pavillion and
Gold Bridge about
12 km (7.5 miles) rnorth of Lillooet. Also a good time to plan this
is during the month of September when the salmon are returning to
spawn in the local creeks and rivers.
Upper
St'at'imc First Nation - The Xwisten Community
You can park near where the bridge crosses over the Bridge River
for a good viewpoint. If time permits, you can take a guided tour
put on by a member of the Upper St'at'imc First Nation the Xwisten
Community and take witness to the traditional methods which includes
a fresh cooked barbecued salmon.
- Tour
information contact St'at'imc Cultural Centre Project
- USLCES
- Upper St'at'imc Language, Culture and Education Society
RV
Camping
Lillooet has two very nice RV sites from which to choose. The Lions
Cayoosh Creek Campground is located just across the Bridge of the
23 Camels and is convenient to town. Fraser Cove Campground is right
next to the Fraser River and has a sandy beach with beautiful views
of the old 1913-built Fraser River Suspension Bridge. If you have
a computer, Fraser Cove offers free, high-speed wireless Internet
access.
Retasket
Lodge & R.V. Park
You can also find a lodge plus five full service RV sites at Retasket
Lodge & R.V. Park. The lodge is proudly owned by the T'it'q'et
of the St'a't'imc Nation and is conveniently located close to downtown
Lillooet.
Hwy
99 - the "Sea to Sky"
Lillooet lies along Hwy 99 which offers you another route to Vancouver
through Mount Currie, Pemberton,
Whistler and Squamish
sometimes called the "Sea-to-Sky Highway." This all-season
road climbs up beautiful snow-capped mountains and glacial-fed lakes
in Duffy Lake and Joffre Lakes Provincial Parks where you can do
some great hiking or canoeing.
Two
Separate Routes
For the more adventurous two other separate routes to Pemberton
are also available Forest Service Roads from Lillooet. The two roads
are both much longer in time and involve going to either Gold
Bridge or Seton Portage and
can only be attempted during the summer.
Gold
Bridge - Bralorne
This route involves travelling along the Bridge River, eventually
to Carpenter Lake and following the lakeside into Gold
Bridge and eventually Bralorne. Along
this route, you'll pass the turnoff for Mission Mountain Road to
Shalalth and Seton Portage. Once
you're at Gold Bridge,
the road to Pemberton
follows the Hurley River Forest Service Road over the alpine into
the Pemberton Valley from the Lillooet River Forest Service Road.
Mission
Mountain
The trip to Seton Portage means
you go over Mission Mountain then take the summer-only 4x4 High
Line Road along Anderson Lake to D'Arcy,
then to Pemberton.
This trip involves a very rough steep ascent, then a descent over
Mission Mountain but the tremendous views of Carpenter and Anderson
Lakes along the way are worth it.
BC
Hydro's Trezaghi Dam
If you would like to go to Seton Portage
look for the Mission Mountain Road, which goes over BC Hydro's Trezaghi
Dam, 47 km (29 miles) from Lillooet. Shalalth is 18 km (11 miles)
and Seton Portage 25 km (16 miles)
from here but expect to take at least an hour because of the rough
road conditions.
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