The township of Hope (42 m (138 ft)), amidst the often snowcapped Coastal Mountains, was originally a fort erected there in 1848/49 by the Hudson's Bay Company at the mouth of the Coquihalla River. The territory of the lower reaches of the Columbia River, the old route for the fur traders, was
transferred to the USA with the Treaty of Oregon in 1846, and the Hudson's Bay Company was forced to find new ways into the interior. When gold was discovered on the Fraser River in 1858, a new town grew up next to the old trading post, which could now be reached by river steamers from Fort Langley. The first sawmills appeared, then in the 1870s silver deposits were found nearby and the first Waggon Road to New Westminster was built. The building of the railroad which started in the 1880s also acted as a boost to the whole region.
Nowadays the TransCanada Highway runs north from Hope through the Fraser River Canyon, and the wonderfully scenic Crowsnest Highway 3 goes east. A 134 km (83 mi.) stretch of mountain and valley road takes in several mountain ranges, from Hope to the 1352 m (4437 ft) Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park. Coquihalla Highway 5, opened in 1986/87, also starts here. This new, four-lane highway which provides a 90 km (56 mi.) shortcut to Kamloops (toll road), goes round the Fraser Canyon and acts as a relief road to the TransCanada Highway, taking much of the through traffic. Surrounded by lakes, rivers and mountains, Hope is a great place for outdoor pursuits as well as being the gateway to Manning Provincial Park, the Canadian continuation of the North Cascades National Park in the USA.
The Crowsnest Highway starts in the west at Hope, about two hours drive from Vancouver, 18 km (11 mi.) from Hope the road passes Hope Slide, a massive landslip; 8 km (5 mi.) further on lies Manning Provincial Park.
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