Othello Tunnels

Andrew McCulloch, engineer of the Kettle Valley Railway, had to get a line through the Coquihalla Canyon where the river runs in a slot of sheer granite. Rather than curve around, he surveyed a dead straight alignment and drove five tunnels and bridges through the rock, lowering surveyors down the cliffs in wicker baskets; the section cost around three hundred thousand dollars a mile in the 1910s, extraordinary money. McCulloch, a Shakespeare enthusiast, named the stations along the line after characters and plays, which is where Othello comes from. Trains stopped in 1959 and the tunnels are now a flat walk on the Trans Canada Trail.

What's there

• The five tunnels - a straight line blasted through sheer granite.
• The gorge bridges - spans between tunnel mouths over the Coquihalla.
• The rock slot - the river running in a narrow granite canyon below.
• The flat trail - a level walk on the old rail bed, easy for anyone.

When to go

May to October; the tunnels close for winter and after rockfalls, which happen regularly. A torch helps in the longer tunnels. Weekend parking fills by mid-morning.

Practical notes

Closures for rockfall have lasted whole seasons in some years, so check before driving out. The tunnels are dark and wet underfoot. Parking is small and overflows onto the road.

Nearby

Hope lies west; the Fraser Canyon runs north.