Lytton Things to Do Tips by Darby2

Hell's Gate, as it appears today

The best time to view the Hell's Gate rapids is probably in the early summer...May or June, when the water is highest. There is an option to take the Aerial tram or walk across the new suspension bridge.

Hell's Gate...the greatest rapid on the Fraser

Hell's Gate has been described as one of the greatest gorges in Canada. The mighty Fraser River narrows to a mere 110 feet wide as it squeezes through the granite cliffs. During the rail construction a massive slide came down in 1914, partially blocking the salmon migration.

The final devastation to the Fraser River salmon occurred on February 23, 1914, when a huge rock cliff above a newly blasted (CNR) railway tunnel collapsed into the river at Hell’s Gate. More than 100,000 cu. yards of rocks as big as houses filled every embayment and projected on to the bed of the river. The slide material narrowed the canyon at that point from about 300 feet to 75 feet and formed a cascade of water dropping more than 20 feet over a distance of less than 75 feet. With such a catastrophe, it was soon clear that the salmon runs expected to arrive the following summer would not make it upriver.

After considerble blasting, much of the rock was displaced and a new fish ladder was constructed.

Address: 42 km south of Lytton, on Highway 1