Hell's Gate

At Hell's Gate the Fraser Canyon narrows to about thirty-five metres and the whole river, at peak flow around two hundred million gallons a minute, forces through a gorge sixty metres deep. Simon Fraser passed here in 1808 and wrote that no human should venture. In 1914 railway blasting on the canyon wall dumped rock into the channel and raised the water speed so far that migrating sockeye could not pass; runs collapsed and took decades to recover, and fishways were eventually built into the rock walls in the 1940s. An airtram crosses the gorge to a viewing area with the fishways visible below.

What you actually see

• The narrows - the full Fraser forced through a thirty-five metre gap.
• The fishways - concrete channels built into the walls after the 1914 slide.
• The airtram - a cable car crossing the gorge to the far side.
• The suspension bridge - a footbridge over the churn at the bottom.

When to go

May to September; the site closes over winter. Water is highest and loudest in June during freshet. Salmon pass in late summer and autumn, though they are hard to see in the churn.

Honest expectations

The site is closed roughly October to April. The airtram is the only easy way down and is charged. It is a commercial attraction with a restaurant and shop at the bottom.

Nearby

Boston Bar lies north; Hope is south.