he Kettle Valley Rail lines are now gone and a gravel bed has been restored to become part of the Trans Canada Trail.     This section is about 19.5 km and is frequented by snowmobilers and mountain bikers, but we sometimes see quads and dirt bikes that use the line to get to fishing spots and campsites on the Tulameen River.   The whole route has a grade of only 1%, making for easy walking and hiking.   We chose to do it in October to enjoy the colors and cooler temperatures.

 

We dropped a vehicle off in Princeton so we could hike one way.   The first leg of the walk followed the wide, level track from the Village of Coalmont  following the Tulameen River downstream.    Snow covered the upper hills around the river valley.   Across the river is the Granite Creek Rec site.   Gold was found in Granite Creek and as a result Granite City grew quickly, and by 1886 it was the largest city in the Interior of B.C.

The whole route is very scenic and the well-packed railbed makes for pleasant hiking.

Orange/rust colored cliffs rise above the river

On the day we hiked the route we only saw two other people before we arrived in Princeton.   The route was a quiet one.

A truss bridge was crossed at the 7 km mark.

Between the truss bridge and the tunnel is a rocky channel.    Much of the Tulameen River looked suitable for kayaking (in higher water) but this section would provide a number of hazards.   Red ossier dogwood had turned bright red by October.

Higher flow levels left some logs stranded above the river.

The Parr Tunnel is 147 m long and curved and is best done with a flashlight, but hikers can also go around the tunnel.  the tunnel was built in 1949 and allowed the railway to remove two truss bridges and 1.5 km of tracks.   The piers from the old bridge are still standing (though they are rotting) jutting out on the bank beside the tunnel.

The tunnel looks very dark on the south side.

The canyon is narrow and rocky just past the tunnel.   The wooden piers of the old bridge can be seen on the right.

Farther south the valley widens and the KVR track goes through farmlands.

South of the farmlands the canyon narrows between cliffs.   A number of hoodoos can be seen above as we hiked under the cliffs.

Colorful cliffs rise above the rail as we approached Princeton, once named Vermillion Forks.   First Nations called the river Tulameen which means “red earth.”   They used the rock dust as a source of ochre.   The color arises from mercuric sulphide.

Near the end of the hike, we approached the Princeton Tunnel.   The tunnel is straight but is long – 324m.   From the start in the Tulameen River Valley  we hiked under Highway 3 to another river valley, the Similkameen.

The final section is on a paved walkway through the west side of Princeton past the old railway station to a path next to the highway, the end our hike.    We were able to maintain 5 km per hour for this hike with flat terrain, a good surface, and cool weather.   We have also mountain biked the route and we have run a large section of the route on a hot day in summer.   We will do another leg of the TransCanada Trail again, probably Tulameen to Brookmere.