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Walking the Othello Tunnels

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Othello Tunnels ”“ Hope BC

The Othello Tunnels are located in the beautiful Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park… about an hour and a half drive from Vancouver. They are a great activity to check out if you are passing through Hope, or if you want to come out from Vancouver to check out some of what the Eastern Fraser Valley has to offer.

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The park, known to most as the Othello Tunnels, It is now a decommissioned railway line and has been converted into a scenic walk, offering spectacular views of the Coquihalla River and the flat-rock granite cliffs.

The Canadian Pacific Railway built the Othello tunnels in 1914, as part of the Kettle Valley Railway. This new route would connect the Kootney region with the South Coast of British Columbia. … It was an amazing engineering feat in its time, as the railway had to pass through the rugged terrain of Granite cliffs and raging waterways of the Coquihalla River.

 

The Othello Tunnels have been used for several movie sets, most notably in Rambo: First Blood!

We spent about three hours walking the trail and Mattias (3) was easily able to walk it on his own! He loved looking over the trestle bridges at the water and the huge boulders below. He couldn”™t believe that there were rocks bigger than his house! We took the stroller for Markus (1) and went at naptime so he slept most of the way!

It is a beautiful walk with amazing scenery for all fitness levels. It is about 3.5 km return from the parking lot to the last tunnel and back.

WHY IS THIS GREAT FOR FAMILIES?

  • Free parking and Free Entrance fees
  • This walk is mostly flat and the trail is wide. Kids can run along the trail and strollers can easily be manoeuvred. Its also bicycle friendly!
  • It includes tunnels and railway bridges, which are sure to delight kids (the tunnels are VERY dark, kids might like a flashlight)
  • There are sandbars at the river”™s edge, which make a great spot for a picnic lunch

 

Have you been to the Othello Tunnels of other family friendly walks in the Fraser Valley? let us know in the comments!

As always, a like, share, tweet or comment is appreciated!

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Dave from Daves Travel Pages

Tuesday 2nd of June 2015

Looks like a great day trip :)

Ralph

Monday 1st of June 2015

Vancouver seems great. Lots of fun stuff to see. I dig the whole rails-to-trails thing too.

Alli

Monday 1st of June 2015

Those scraped knees are tell-tale signs of a great adventure had :P :P

Uncover Your Caribbean

Monday 1st of June 2015

Great history! Looks and sounds awesome.

Vicky and Buddy

Monday 1st of June 2015

This definitely sounds like a good place to stop and have a picnic!