This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
Sea-to-Sky Corridor | |
---|---|
From top, left to right: Howe Sound from Stawamus Chief Provincial Park, Whistler Village, hay bales in Pemberton Valley, Lower Joffre Lake backdropped by Joffre Peak | |
Location in British Columbia, Canada | |
Coordinates: 49°56′10″N123°10′00″W / 49.9361°N 123.1667°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | British Columbia |
Region | British Columbia Coast |
The Sea-to-Sky Corridor, often referred to as the Corridor or the Sea to Sky Country, is a region in British Columbia [1] spreading from Horseshoe Bay through Whistler to the Pemberton Valley and sometimes beyond to include Birken and D'Arcy. From Whistler on up, the region overlaps with the older and more historic Lillooet Country, of which Squamish, at the region's centre, was once the southward extension in the days when it was the rail-port terminus from the Interior, via Lillooet, and accessible from the Lower Mainland only by sea. Most of the region is in the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, although south of Britannia Beach a small part of the region is in the Greater Vancouver Regional District.
The term "Corridor" refers to the alignment of the region's towns along Highway 99, also known as the Sea to Sky Highway, which links together the regions' three main centres - Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton. There is little development other than resource extraction outside the immediate vicinity of the highway and the towns along it, hence the linear character of the region. As with the overlap with the historical region known as Lillooet Country from Cheakamus Canyon northwards, the southern part of the region overlaps with Greater Vancouver and also with a more general and less unified but identifiable region around Howe Sound, the islands and western shore of which are respectively part of the Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast.
The Sea to Sky Country falls readily into three major subregions. These are, south to north:
The designation Sea to Sky Highway ends at Mount Currie , though Highway 99 continues on northwards over Cayoosh Pass to Lillooet. Locations beyond Mount Currie-Lillooet Lake along the route of the rail line and the frontier-era Douglas Road are not usually considered in the Corridor, but sometimes are even though they are not on the Sea to Sky Highway. This further subregion is defined by the lower valley of the Birkenhead River and the Birken Valley and Gates Valley towards Anderson Lake. Socially and economically this area is part of or adjunct to the Pemberton subregion, though not in the Pemberton Valley:
Whistler is a resort municipality in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia, Canada. It is located in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains, approximately 125 km (78 mi) north of Vancouver and 36 km (22 mi) south of Pemberton. It has a permanent population of approximately 13,982 (2021), as well as a larger but rotating population of seasonal workers.
Highway 99 is a provincial highway in British Columbia that runs 377 kilometres (234 mi) from the U.S. border to near Cache Creek, serving Greater Vancouver and the Squamish–Lillooet corridor. It is a major north–south artery within Vancouver and connects the city to several suburbs as well as the U.S. border, where it continues south as Interstate 5. The central section of the route, also known as the Sea to Sky Highway, serves the communities of Squamish, Whistler, and Pemberton. Highway 99 continues through Lillooet and ends at a junction with Highway 97 near Cache Creek.
Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway. The population of the Squamish census agglomeration, which includes First Nation reserves of the Squamish Nation although they are not governed by the municipality, is 24,232.
The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District is a quasi-municipal administrative area in British Columbia, Canada. It stretches from Britannia Beach in the south to Pavilion in the north. Lillooet, Pemberton, Whistler and Squamish are the four municipalities in the regional district. Its administrative offices are in the Village of Pemberton, although the district municipalities of Squamish and Whistler are larger population centres. The district covers 16,353.68 km2 of land area.
Seton Portage is a community on a narrow strip of land between Anderson Lake and Seton Lake in Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, British Columbia. The community is home to two Seton Lake First Nation communities at either end of the portage and a non-native recreational community between them. Local services include a post office, fire department, library, and general store, among other small businesses. The community is also the location of Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park, a small provincial park protecting a historically significant stretch of railway.
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.
N'Quatqua, variously spelled Nequatque, N'quat'qua, is the proper historic name in the St'at'imcets language for the First Nations village of the Stl'atl'imx people of the community of D'Arcy, which is at the upper end of Anderson Lake about 35 miles southeast of Lillooet and about the same distance from Pemberton. The usage is synonymous with Nequatque Indian Reserve No. 1, which is 177 ha. in size and located adjacent to the mouth of the Gates River.
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.
Birkenhead Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located in the Lillooet Country region. The park lies north of the communities of Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton, and immediately northwest of Birkenhead Peak and Gates Lake at the community of Birken.
Stawamus Chief Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, established in 1997. It encompasses both the eponymous Stawamus Chief and the Slhanay granitic domes and the surrounding forest.
Mount Currie is a settlement in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. On BC Highway 99, the locality is by road about 160 kilometres (99 mi) north of Vancouver, 39 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Whistler, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Lillooet.
The British Columbia Interior, popularly referred to as the BC Interior or simply the Interior, is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. While the exact boundaries are variously defined, the British Columbia Interior is generally defined to include the 14 regional districts that do not have coastline along the Pacific Ocean or Salish Sea, and are not part of the Lower Mainland. Other boundaries may exclude parts of or even entire regional districts, or expand the definition to include the regional districts of Fraser Valley, Squamish–Lillooet, and Kitimat–Stikine.
The Lil'wat First Nation, a.k.a. the Lil'wat Nation or the Mount Currie Indian Band, is a First Nation band government located in the southern Coast Mountains region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc or Stl'atl'imx people. Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller In-SHUCK-ch Nation on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the near end of Anderson Lake from Mount Currie, which is the main reserve of the Lil'wat First Nation, and also one of the largest Indian reserves by population in Canada.
The Lillooet Country, also referred to as the Lillooet District, is a region spanning from the central Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet west to the valley of the Lillooet River, and including the valleys in between, in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Like other historical BC regions, it is sometimes referred to simply as The Lillooet or even Lillooet,.
Gates Lake, also known as Birken Lake, Tenass Lake, Halfway Lake, and Summit Lake, is a small lake located at the summit of the Pemberton Portage area of the one-time Lakes Route through the Coast Mountains, located at the summit of a low pass connecting the Upper and Lower Lillooet Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia. Birken Lake sits at the divide between the Birkenhead and Gates-Seton drainage, known as the Pemberton Pass or Mosquito Pass, and is part of the Gates River drainage.
Pemberton Pass, 505 m (1,657 ft), also formerly known as Mosquito Pass, is the lowest point on the divide between the Lillooet and Fraser River drainages, located at Birken, British Columbia, Canada, in the principal valley connecting and between Pemberton and Lillooet. The pass is a steep-sided but flat-bottomed valley adjacent to Mount Birkenhead and forming a divide between Poole Creek, a tributary of the Birkenhead River, which joins the Lillooet at Lillooet Lake, and the Gates River which flows northeast from Gates Lake, at the summit of the pass, which flows to the Fraser via Anderson and Seton Lakes and the Seton River.
Birken is an unincorporated community on the north shore of Gates Lake in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia. On Pemberton Portage Road, the locality is by road about 182 kilometres (113 mi) north of Vancouver and 62 kilometres (39 mi) northeast of Whistler.
The Gates Valley is a valley and group of communities in the Lillooet Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located between the summit of Pemberton Pass and the head of Anderson Lake at the community of D'Arcy. Though the term strictly refers to the valley of the Gates River, it is usually used more in a sense of the communities located in the valley and is not a term used for the river's drainage basin, which is much larger.
Birkenhead Peak, commonly known as Mount Birkenhead and sometimes Birkenhead Mountain or Mount Birken is a mountain in the Gates Valley region of the Lillooet Country of the South-Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Located approximately midway between the towns of Lillooet (NE) and Pemberton-Mount Currie, the mountain's very high prominence separates it from the adjoining Cadwallader Range by the pass between Blackwater Creek and Birkenhead Lake.
The Sea to Sky Trail is a 180 km multi-use recreational trail in the Sea-to-Sky Corridor of British Columbia, Canada. The trail begins in the south on the Howe Sound in Squamish and terminates in D'Arcy on Anderson Lake in the north, connecting the communities of Whistler and Pemberton along its route. The trail between Squamish to Pemberton was designated as a section of the Trans Canada Trail, connected to the rest of the trail system via the Sea to Sky Marine Trail.