The 'Chehalis River' is located in the southwest corner of
British Columbia near the city of
Vancouver, Canada. It flows south-eastward out of the
Douglas Ranges of the
Coast Mountains, draining into the
Harrison River.
Though the river's valley is heavily logged—earlier in the 20th century the area was covered by a dense network of
logging railways—the river itself flows through a modest yet picturesque canyon with the clearest water in the area. The Chehalis is a recognized fishing stream and, together with its tributaries such as Statlu Creek, offers tremendous opportunities for class III and IV
whitewater recreation.
The river's canyon and the peaks and cliff-faces of the range encircling its basin, which comprises most of the area of the
Douglas Ranges, is popular with rock-climbers and hikers, who call the area "the Chehalis". There is a small ski resort,
Hemlock Valley, on the eastern side of the Chehalis River basin.
A road penetrates the northeast rim of the range into the
Harrison Lake basin and on to historic
Port Douglas, at the head of that lake, and beyond up the
Lillooet River via
Skookumchuck Hot Springs to
Pemberton–
Mount Currie. This road, named the
Sasquatch Highway will be paved before the
2010 Winter Olympics to connect Hwy 7 (
Lougheed Highway) at the community of
Chehalis with Hwy 99 (the
Sea-to-Sky Highway) at
Mount Currie.
See also
★
Douglas Ranges
External links
★
Bridge River-Lillooet Country Archive
★
Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia