Lillooet River

Last updated
Lillooet River
Bridge Lillooet.jpg
Location
Country Canada
Province British Columbia
Districts Lillooet Land District
New Westminster Land District
Physical characteristics
SourceSilt Lake
  location Coast Mountains
  coordinates 50°43′51″N123°41′25″W / 50.73083°N 123.69028°W / 50.73083; -123.69028 [1]
  elevation784 m (2,572 ft) [2]
Mouth Harrison Lake
  coordinates
49°44′50″N122°8′44″W / 49.74722°N 122.14556°W / 49.74722; -122.14556 [3]
  elevation
9 m (30 ft) [2]
Length209 km (130 mi) [4]
Discharge 
  locationnear Pemberton [5]
  average125 m3/s (4,400 cu ft/s) [5]
  minimum6.37 m3/s (225 cu ft/s)
  maximum1,370 m3/s (48,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
  left Birkenhead River
  right Ryan River, Green River

The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of Whistler. Its upper valley is about 95 kilometres in length, entering Lillooet Lake about 15 km downstream from Pemberton on the eastern outskirts of the Mount Currie reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc people. From Pemberton Meadows, about 40 km upstream from Pemberton, to Lillooet Lake, the flat bottomlands of the river form the Pemberton Valley farming region.

Contents

Below the 30 km (18.6 mi) length of Lillooet Lake, it resumes again just north of the native community and ghost town of Skookumchuck Hot Springs, which is known in the St'at'imcets language as Skatin. The lower stretch of the Lillooet River, from Lillooet Lake to Harrison Lake, is approximately 55 km (c. 34 mi) in length. Its main tributaries are Meager Creek, the Ryan River, the Green River, and the Birkenhead River. Below Harrison Lake, the stream is renamed as the Harrison River, which enters the Fraser near the First Nations community of Chehalis.

The lower Lillooet River and Lillooet Lake were part of a short-lived main route between the Coast and the Interior in the days of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. See the Douglas Road.

The "other" Lillooet River

Until the 1910s, the name Lillooet River also applied to what is now the Alouette River in Maple Ridge; the neighbourhood that grew up on its south branch became known as South Lillooet, but to avoid confusion the new postmaster was requested to come up with a name, choosing Yennadon after his family manor on the Devonshire Moors. [6] The river name was changed formally on March 31, 1915 with "Alouette" chosen because of its resemblance to the sound of "Lillooet". [3]

Geology

The Lillooet River was dammed with breccia from a Plinian style eruption of the Mount Meager massif 2,400 years ago. The breccia damming the Lillooet River was not very strong, and the water soon eroded the breccia that was damming the river, forming Keyhole Falls. There was a massive flood when the water first broke through the breccia. The flood was big enough that small house sized blocks of breccia were carried away during the flood.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stʼatʼimc</span> Salishan ethnic group of British Columbia, Canada

The Stʼatʼimc, also known as the Lillooet, St̓át̓imc, Stl'atl'imx, etc., are an Interior Salish people located in the southern Coast Mountains and Fraser Canyon region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia.

The Chehalis River is located in the southwest corner of British Columbia, Canada near the city of Chilliwack. It flows south-eastward out of the Douglas Ranges of the Coast Mountains, draining into the Harrison River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillooet Lake</span>

Lillooet Lake is a lake in British Columbia, Canada about 25 km in length and about 33.5 square kilometres (22 mi²) in area. It is about 95 km downstream from the source of the Lillooet River, which resumes its course after leaving Little Lillooet Lake, aka Tenas Lake. Immediately adjacent to the mouth of the upper Lillooet River is the mouth of the Birkenhead River and just upstream along the Lillooet is the confluence of the Green River, which begins at Green Lake in the resort area of Whistler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lillooet Ranges</span> Mountain range in the country of Canada

The Lillooet Ranges are the southeasternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. They are located between the drainage of the Lillooet River and Harrison Lake on the west and the canyon of the Fraser River on the east, and by the lowland coastal valley of that river on the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Ranges</span> Subrange of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada

The Pacific Ranges are the southernmost subdivision of the Coast Mountains portion of the Pacific Cordillera. Located entirely within British Columbia, Canada, they run northwest from the lower stretches of the Fraser River to Bella Coola and Burke Channel, north of which are the Kitimat Ranges. The Coast Mountains lie between the Interior Plateau and the Coast of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harrison Lake</span> Lake in British Columbia, Canada

Harrison Lake is the largest lake in the southern Coast Mountains of Canada, being about 250 square kilometres (95 mi²) in area. It is about 60 km (37 mi) in length and at its widest almost 9 km (5.6 mi) across. Its southern end, at the resort community of Harrison Hot Springs, is c. 95 km east of downtown Vancouver. East of the lake are the Lillooet Ranges while to the west are the Douglas Ranges. The lake is the last of a series of large north-south glacial valleys tributary to the Fraser along its north bank east of Vancouver, British Columbia. The others to the west are the Chehalis, Stave, Alouette, Pitt, and Coquitlam Rivers.

The Birkenhead River, formerly known as the Portage River, the Pole River and the Mosquito River, is a major tributary of the Lillooet River, which via Harrison Lake and the Harrison River is one of the major tributaries of the lower Fraser River. It is just over 50 km long from its upper reaches in the unnamed ranges south of Bralorne, British Columbia ; their western area towards the named Bendor Range east of Bralorne is sometimes called the Cadwallader Ranges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keyhole Falls</span> Waterfall on the Lillooet River in British Columbia, Canada

Keyhole Falls is the unofficial name for the largest waterfall along the Lillooet River in British Columbia, Canada. The falls are 115 feet (35 m) high and are a punchbowl type of waterfall.

The Taseko River or Dasiqox in the original Chilcotin, is a tributary of British Columbia's Chilko River, a tributary of the Chilcotin River which joins the Fraser near the city of Williams Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Meager massif</span> Group of volcanoes in British Columbia, Canada

The Mount Meager massif is a group of volcanic peaks in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc of western North America, it is located 150 km (93 mi) north of Vancouver at the northern end of the Pemberton Valley and reaches a maximum elevation of 2,680 m (8,790 ft). The massif is capped by several eroded volcanic edifices, including lava domes, volcanic plugs and overlapping piles of lava flows; these form at least six major summits including Mount Meager which is the second highest of the massif.

The Lillooet Icecap, also called the Lillooet Icefield or the Lillooet Crown, is a large icefield in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is about 90 km (56 mi) northwest of the towns of Pemberton and Whistler, and about 175 km (109 mi) north of Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lillooet Icecap is one of the largest of several large icefields in the Pacific Ranges which are the largest temperate-latitude glacial fields in the world. At its maximum extent including its glacial tongues it measures 30 km (19 mi) east to west and 20 km (12 mi) north to south; its central icefield area is approximately 15 km (9 mi) in diameter.

Skatin is a community of under 100 persons in Skatin First Nations, aka the Skatin Nations, a Band government of the larger Band of the In-SHUCK-ch Nation, part of the St'at'imc people who are also referred to as Lower Stl'atl'imx. Skatin, the official new name, reverts to the traditional pre-colonial/pre-Columbian name. The alternate past name still commonly used by outsiders, Skookumchuck, is the St'at'imcets version of the Chinook Jargon Skookumchuck, meaning Strong Waters, i.e. rapids. The town site is 4 km south of T'sek Hot Spring, formerly named both Saint Agnes Well and Skookumchuck Hot Springs. The community is 28 km south of the outlet of Lillooet Lake on the east side of the Lillooet River. It is approximately 75 km south of the town of Pemberton and the large reserve of the Lil'wat branch of the St'at'imc at Mount Currie, British Columbia. See Skatin First Nations for details about the complicated Band(s) structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meager Creek</span> Creek and thermal springs in British Columbia, Canada

Meager Creek is a creek in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It flows northeast into the Lillooet River approximately 95 km (59 mi) northwest of the village of Pemberton and is adjacent to the Upper Lillooet Provincial Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alouette River</span> River in British Columbia, Canada

The Alouette River is a tributary of the Pitt River in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cayoosh Creek</span> River in Canada

Cayoosh Creek is a northeast-flowing tributary of the Seton River in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The name Cayoosh Creek remains on the bridge-sign crossing the stream on BC Highway 99 and continues in use locally to refer to the final reaches of the Seton River, formerly Seton Creek, which prior to the renaming ending at the confluence with Cayoosh Creek. The creek is the namesake of Cayoosh Creek Indian Reserve No. 1, one of the main Indian reserves of the Cayoose Creek Indian Band, which lies adjacent to what was renamed the Seton River without local consultation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Cascade Arc</span> Canadian segment of the North American Cascade Volcanic Arc

The Canadian Cascade Arc, also called the Canadian Cascades, is the Canadian segment of the North American Cascade Volcanic Arc. Located entirely within the Canadian province of British Columbia, it extends from the Cascade Mountains in the south to the Coast Mountains in the north. Specifically, the southern end of the Canadian Cascades begin at the Canada–United States border. However, the specific boundaries of the northern end are not precisely known and the geology in this part of the volcanic arc is poorly understood. It is widely accepted by geologists that the Canadian Cascade Arc extends through the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. However, others have expressed concern that the volcanic arc possibly extends further north into the Kitimat Ranges, another subdivision of the Coast Mountains, and even as far north as Haida Gwaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridge River Vent</span>

The Bridge River Vent is a volcanic crater in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is located 51 km (32 mi) west of Bralorne on the northeastern flank of the Mount Meager massif. With an elevation of 1,524 m (5,000 ft), it lies on the steep northern face of Plinth Peak, a 2,677 m (8,783 ft) high volcanic peak comprising the northern portion of Meager. The vent rises above the western shoulder of the Pemberton Valley and represents the northernmost volcanic feature of the Mount Meager massif.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Mount Meager landslide</span>

The 2010 Mount Meager landslide was a large catastrophic debris avalanche that occurred in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on August 6 at 3:27 a.m. PDT (UTC-7). More than 45,000,000 m3 (1.6×109 cu ft) of debris slid down Mount Meager, temporarily blocking Meager Creek and destroying local bridges, roads and equipment. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and one of over 20 landslides to have occurred from the Mount Meager massif in the last 10,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Meager (British Columbia)</span>

Mount Meager is a mountain in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada. It represents the second highest peak of the Mount Meager massif, a group of coalescent stratovolcanoes in the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt.

References

  1. "Silt Lake". BC Geographical Names .
  2. 1 2 Elevation derived from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model, using GeoLocator, and BCGNIS coordinates
  3. 1 2 "Lillooet River". BC Geographical Names .
  4. Lillooet River Archived 2005-05-11 at the Wayback Machine , The Columbia Gazetteer of North America
  5. 1 2 "Archived Hydrometric Data Search". Water Survey of Canada. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2013. Search for Station 08MG005 Lillooet River near Pemberton
  6. Yennadon