The Kettle Valley Railway Trail
The Trans Canada Trail (TCT) will soon be the longest recreational trail in the world. Spanning approximately 18,000 kilometers, it will wind its way through every province and territory in Canada. A combination of existing trails, railtrails and newly built trail sections, thousands of kilometers of the multi-use trail are already open to explore.
The Kettle Valley Railway Trail (KVR) section of the TCT winds its way along several river valleys between the eastern Purcell Mountain Range and the western Cascade Mountains in the southern interior of British Columbia.
The 450 km trail from Midway to Hope travels through mountains, forests, grasslands, and orchards that surround the sunny Okanagan Valley. An additional 150 km of the Columbia and Western Trail from Midway to Castlegar is often included when referring to the KVR for a total of 600 km.
The KVR was built at the beginning of the 20th century during the race for control of the region's mineral wealth. It was abandoned by the railroad in the 1970's due to the increasing cost of maintaining this mountainous rail line.
Recently listed by Bicycling Magazine as one of the 50 top rides on our planet, the former rail corridor now offers cyclists a unique cycling opportunity. Traveling this scenic trail with its many trestles and tunnels of a bygone era is truly an adventure.
The KVR along the Tulameen River
KVR Map
For the reader's information:
The names of stations mentioned in the journal refer to the location
of the former railway stations. For the most part the station structures
themselves no longer exist except in some of the larger cities.
*Please note that there are quite a lot of pictures so if you are not on a fast connection, you may have to be a little patient.