The Deschutes River in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, eastern flank of the mountains. The Deschutes provided an important route to and from the Columbia for Native Americans for thousands of years, and then in the 19th century for pioneers on the Oregon Trail. The river flows mostly through rugged and arid country, and its valley provides a cultural heart for central Oregon. Today the river supplies water for irrigation and is popular in the summer for whitewater rafting and fishing.
Highway 23 is a north–south highway that straddles the Columbia River in the Columbia Country region of British Columbia, Canada. Its section north of Revelstoke is formerly known as the Big Bend Highway and was part of the original routing of Highway 1. The Big Bend area was well known as there was a gold rush there, beginning in 1864. Travelers used canoes or river steamers until a dirt-surfaced "highway" was built on the east bank around the Big Bend, from Revelstoke to Golden, from 1930 to 1937, opening officially in 1940, and it served as the trans-provincial highway until 1962 when the Rogers Pass portion of the Trans-Canada Highway was opened.
The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. The Kootenay River runs 781 kilometres (485 mi) from its headwaters in the Kootenay Ranges of the Canadian Rockies, flowing from British Columbia's East Kootenay region into northwestern Montana, then west into the northernmost Idaho Panhandle and returning to British Columbia in the West Kootenay region, where it joins the Columbia at Castlegar.
Mica Dam is a hydroelectric embankment dam spanning the Columbia River 135 kilometres north of Revelstoke, British Columbia, Canada. It was built as one of three Canadian projects under the terms of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty and is operated by BC Hydro. Completed in 1973, the Mica powerhouse had an original generating capacity of 1,805 megawatts (MW). Mica Dam, named after the nearby settlement of Mica Creek and its associated stream, in turn named after the abundance of mica minerals in the area, is one of the largest earthfill dams in the world. The reservoir created by the dam is Kinbasket Lake. Water from the dam flows south directly into Revelstoke Lake, the reservoir for the Revelstoke Dam. Mica Dam is the tallest dam in Canada and second tallest in North America after the Chicoasén Dam in Mexico and it is the farthest upstream dam on the Columbia River. The dam's underground powerhouse was the second largest in the world at the time of its construction, and was the first 500 kV installation of sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) insulated switchgear in the world.
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches, the South Thompson River and the North Thompson River. The river is home to several varieties of Pacific salmon and trout. The area's geological history was heavily influenced by glaciation, and the several large glacial lakes have filled the river valley over the last 12,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows human habitation in the watershed dating back at least 8,300 years. The Thompson was named by Fraser River explorer, Simon Fraser, in honour of his friend, Columbia Basin explorer David Thompson. Recreational use of the river includes whitewater rafting and angling.
Lake Revelstoke or Revelstoke Lake or Revelstoke Lake Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Columbia River, north of the town of Revelstoke, British Columbia and south of Mica Creek. This lake is the reservoir formed by the Revelstoke Dam, which during its construction was also known as the Revelstoke Canyon Dam, inundating the Columbia's canyon in this area and the historic Dalles des Morts and some of the former gold diggings of the Big Bend Gold Rush. The dam's site is at what had been the head of river navigation by steamboat from Northport, Washington via the Arrow Lakes.
Kinbasket Lake is a reservoir on the Columbia River in southeast British Columbia, north of the city of Revelstoke and the town of Golden. The reservoir was created by the construction of the Mica Dam. The lake includes two reaches, Columbia Reach and Canoe Reach, referring to the river valleys flooded by the dam. To the north it almost reaches the town of Valemount in an impoundment of the Canoe River. To the south it reaches upstream the Columbia River towards the city of Golden.
Mica Creek is a small village in British Columbia, Canada that was used as a base of operations for the construction of the Mica Dam hydroelectric project by BC Hydro in the 1960s and 1970s. It is located 148 km north of Revelstoke, British Columbia on Highway 23 and situated at the convergence of the Revelstoke Lake and a stream called Mica Creek. The village is effectively a relocation of Mica, which had been at the confluence of the Columbia and Mica Creek proper. The creek itself was named for the flakes of mica minerals which could be found floating in its waters. The Mica Creek area was one of the foci of the Big Bend Gold Rush of the 1860s.
The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a striking physiographic feature extending approximately 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from Flathead Lake, Montana, to the Liard River, just south of the British Columbia–Yukon border near Watson Lake, Yukon. The trench bottom is 3–16 km (1.9–9.9 mi) wide and is 600–900 m (2,000–3,000 ft) above sea level. The general orientation of the Trench is an almost straight 150/330° geographic north vector and has become convenient as a visual guide for aviators heading north or south.
Valemount is a village municipality of 1,018 people in east central British Columbia, Canada, 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Kamloops, British Columbia. It is between the Rocky, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. It is the nearest community to the west of Jasper National Park, and is also the nearest community to Mount Robson Provincial Park, which features Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies. Outdoor recreation is popular in summer and winter—hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, mountain biking and horseback riding are common activities. Valemount is one of 14 designated resort municipalities in British Columbia.
The Big Bend Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Big Bend Country of the Colony of British Columbia in the mid-1860s.
Boat Encampment is a ghost town in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The locality was at the tip of the Big Bend on the north shore of the Columbia River. The general vicinity, on the former Big Bend Highway, was by road about 151 kilometres (94 mi) northwest of Golden and 159 kilometres (99 mi) north of Revelstoke.
The Big Bend Highway is a 305-kilometre (190 mi) former highway in the interior of British Columbia, and was the original alignment of Highway 1 (Hwy 1) which followed the Columbia River between Revelstoke and Golden through the Selkirk Mountains.
The Wood River, which flows in a southwesterly direction, is in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. The former confluence was near the top of the Big Bend of the Columbia River. After the enlarged Kinbasket Lake formed the Mica Dam reservoir, the flow entered Wood Arm.
The Valenciennes River is a tributary of the Bush River, entering that river just above its mouth into Kinbasket Lake, the reservoir on the Columbia River created by the Mica Dam in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The Valenciennes was originally known as the South Fork Bush River. Headwaters form on the south slope of Valenciennes Mountain. Approximately halfway through the course of the river, the Valenciennes receives Icefall Brook on the right, flowing South from Cerberus Falls.
In the Canadian province of British Columbia, Big Bend Country is the region around the northernmost section of the Columbia River, which changes from a northwestward course along the Rocky Mountain Trench to curve around the northern end of the Selkirk Mountains to head southwest between that range and the Monashee Mountains, which lie to the west. The area is part of the larger Columbia Country, which includes the Columbia Valley and upper Arrow Lakes of eastern British Columbia. The 2,300 square miles (6,000 km2) north of the railway line, and enclosed by the river, roughly defines the Big Bend. However, in earlier eras, the descriptive was more narrowly understood.
The Fraser Pass is a mountain pass in the British Columbian Rockies of Western Canada. Its summit is 2,015 m (6,611 ft) above sea level. Although immediately adjacent to the Continental Divide, the pass does not cross it; rather, it bridges the drainage basins of the Fraser River and Columbia River, both Pacific-draining rivers.
The Albreda River is a river in Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George in the Interior region of British Columbia, Canada. It is in the Pacific Ocean drainage basin and is a left tributary of the North Thompson River. The nearest communities to the mouth of the creek on British Columbia Highway 5 are Blue River 42 kilometres (26 mi) south and Valemount 48 kilometres (30 mi) north; the mouth of the river is at a point where the North Thompson River, arriving downstream from its source, turns 90° right and heads south.
