Standing outside the locked gate at tunnel Number One - Othello Tunnels, Hope, BC - November 04, 2010.

Two joggers who are visiting from Abbottsford BC stand at the chain link fence looking South to tunnel number one of four incredible engineering marvels at Othello Canyon near Hope BC. We eventually found another way around the fence and the joggers continued their run along the historic train bed.

The problem with Othello tunnels at this time of the year and further into the winter season is erosion; Namely falling ice and rock - people can get hurt, even killed. Every one that visits the Coquihalla Canyon tunnels remarks about all of the dripping water seepage from the ceilings and the mud puddles on the floor in large pooled areas. During the spring, summer and early fall, this sort of thing is a more a nuisance when water drips on a new hair do or a delicate camera draped around the neck. However, in the winter time when things start to ice up there are huge icicles that hang from the ceiling ready to drop at who knows what time, and massive ice sheets on the floor.

I spoke to one of the parks board caretakers after my hike through the tunnels (there is a way around the fence that is known by locals) and he said that people don't realize how much danger there is during the winter months. "We put up a nice hand painted, wooden sign, on a 6" x 6" beam explaining about the dangers of ice falling, slippery surface and rocks coming loose and falling from the ceiling. It was posted at one end of the tunnel, but as luck would have it, some one came along with a chain saw, cut the sign down and made it disappear to who-knows-where."

It doesn't make sense. Anyone can find the way around the fence if they look hard enough... but removing a sign when there are very real dangers? The caretaker says that even when he goes into the tunnels in the winter time completely equipped with safety gear such as crampons and hard hat there have been times that he's had some close calls with rocks working loose from the ceiling. "The first winter I went in there I had a hard hat, but didn't think about the sheets of ice on the floor. Even with a light on my hard hat I couldn't really see where I was going in the dark. After falling on my rear a few times I learned my lesson.

So there you have it. The gate is in place not because the park is closed for the season but because the tunnels are extremely dangerous in the winter.

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Located just to the east of Hope, the Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Recreation Area allows visitors to explore an engineering marvel. The Othello Tunnels were built from 1911 to 1918 to complete the Kettle Valley Railway. The fastest way to get to Hope from Vancouver is the Trans Canada Highway. Those looking for a more scenic route might consider taking Highway 7, the Loughheed Highway, which runs through the Fraser Valley along the north side of the Fraser River. Driving from Vancouver takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

In the Late 1880's, the discovery of Precious metals in Southern BC's Kootenay District prompted thousands of miners to scurry into this remote area with dreams of striking it rich.

The majority of newcomers were Americans, due to easy access provided by the Columbia River and its tributaries. The Canadian Pacific Railway mainline was too far North to service the booming mining towns, or to transport precious metals and concentrates to Canadian Cities. By 1888 the first American Railway line pushed north across the border and the threat of economic domination became very strong.

In 1890, CPR President William Van Horne announced that the "Canadian Pacific Railway cannot and will not surrender that region to any other company." A decade later his successor Thomas Shaughnessy supported an all-Canadian line and the CPR financed the Kettle Valley Railway Company.
By 1914, the Kettle Valley Railroad linked Nelson BC with CPR's mail line at the East end of the Fraser Valley. The Othello - Quintette tunnels were built; blasted, carved and worried through solid rock. This mile of track became the most expensive track in the world, costing over 300,000 dollars (in 1914).

Now it is but a memory and a tourist destination. The original trestle steel between two of the tunnels is still in use except that the track has been replaced with a smooth surface of sand and gravel. With no artificial lights in the tunnels themselves, the darker sections of the long tunnels can be a little dicey - luckily the parks board has seen to it that the ground is smooth with no objects to trip over.