Site Identification Site Identification Overall www.goldtrail.com www.goldtrail.com pagesgoto: For moresite email: [email protected] Tel: 1-877-453-9467 V0K 1H0 BC., Cache Creek, PO. Box933 CommunitiesSociety Gold Country with thissitepleasecontact: problem ortoreporta For moreinformation Access Nearest Geocache

and terrain Letterbox Apply Sticker Here Overall

Community: Restrictions: Ownership:

Accuracy: difficulty: Location:

terrain:

Clues: (1=easiest;5=hardest)

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many groups,theroute can rail bed.With theworkof lishing atrailnetworkon the lines withthegoalofestab- Columbia purchasedtherail The government ofBritish the lastrailswereremoved. decommissioned andby1990 sections oftherailwaywere vision toHope.By1961, through theCoquihallaSubdi- sion (especiallyinwinter)or through theMerrittSubdivi- Interior with theCoast,either lumber mills, orchardsof the 1915, itlinkedthemines, Subdivision. Completed in was knownasthePrinceton from PentictontoBrookmere The KettleValleyRailway Hope. mere, beforebearingsouthto area, thennorthtoBrook- through theSimilkameen through theOkanagan, west ,winding tle Valleyroute,startinginthe area ofB.C.followstheKet- through thesouthernInterior The TransCanadaTrail Railsand TCT Coldwater River. sion atBrodieStationon the vision andMerrittSubdivi- links totheCoquihallaSubdi- just eastofBrookmere and (TCT) entersGoldCountry use. TheTransCanadaTrail of thetrailisnowreadyfor kilometers. Asof2012,73% ering adistanceof22500 largest network ished, willbetheworld’s munities and whenitisfin- rate trails,linking1000com- is aconnectionof400sepa- brate ’s125 ject startedin1992tocele- The TransCanadaTrailpro- any point. skiers, ormotorizedusersat horses, hikers,crosscountry and visitorsmay seebicycles, of thesections aremulti-use private landparcels.Many have detours,washouts,and and othersections thatstill tions liketheMyraTrestles progress withfeaturedsec- 600km. Itisstillaworkin now betraversedforalmost of trailscov- th year.It

Photo: Marcie Down From Princeton, the TCT heads north along the River to Coalmont and Tulameen. Bibliography & Sources: It follows the east shore of Otter Lake and then http://tctrail.ca/ through farmlands along Otter Creek, follow- Langford, Dan and Sandra, Cycling the Kettle ing the old Aspen Grove Stage Road to Thalia Valley Railway, Rocky Mountain Books, Cal- Station. A trestle leads up the Spearing Creek gary, 1994 drainage to , now in Gold Country. Obee, Bruce, , British Co- Brookmere was formerly known as Otter Junc- lumbia, Whitecap, North , 2008 tion and was the divisional junction of two http://www.trailsbc.ca/ railways, the Kettle Valley and the V, V, and E http://www.kettlevalleyrailway.ca/ Line. A wooden water tower and caboose are still on display here and the TCT goes right through the middle of the village. From Brookmere, the TCT descends for 6.4 Waypoints: kilometers to “the loop” at Brodie Station on N 49 49.051 W120 52.309 - Brookmere the Coldwater River. The old rail bed lines go N 49 48.828 W120 56.468 - Brodie north along the Merritt Subdivision or south along the Coquihalla Subdivision. The TCT follows the railbed south to Hope. The route is in good shape for most of the route to Juliet Station at 15.8 km from Brookmere.

From there the route follows the Coquihalla Highway to Coquihalla Lakes. As the high- way takes the high route down Boston Bar Creek, the TCT follows the Kettle Valley route, following the Kettle River on its way to Hope.

Although the TCT only has a short section in Gold Country, connecting sections up the Coldwater River through the Merritt Subdivi- sion are in use now and as negotiations and progress is made on access, a TCT connecting trail to the heart of Gold Country is in our fu- ture.