Stikine
River |
Getting off
the beaten path, even as meagre a one as Highway 37, is a must for
explorers. Those seeking solitude can go for days or weeks in some
areas without sharing this rugged beauty with anyone else. Forged
in fire, carved with ice, coloured with sprawling verdant forests,
crystalline blue lakes, and fragile alpine meadows: welcome to the
backcountry.
Stikine River
Provincial Park is a narrow park straddling the Stikine River and
linking Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial
Park and Mount Edziza Provincial Park.
The park protects a geological feature unparalleled in Canada. Eighty
kilometres of steep-walled canyon, composed of sedimentary and volcanic
rock, has been carved through eons of river erosion. In the bottom
of this sometimes 300 metre deep chasm flows the wild and unnavigable
Stikine River, which varies in width from 200 metres to as little
as 2 metres at a point near the Tanzilla and Stikine confluence.
The 217,000-hectare
Stikine River Provincial Park is home to hundreds of animal species
including moose, grizzly and black bears, wolves, beavers, hoary
marmots, and a variety of birds. At last count, the Grand Canyon
of the Stikine was home to more than 360 mountain goats that
use the sheer canyon walls as effective protection from all natural
predators.
Canoeing and
kayaking are permitted on the upper Stikine River. Don't even think
about canoeing or kayaking the Stikine River into the Grand Canyon
of the Stikine, a 100-m stretch of impassable waters that charge
through canyons 300 metres deep. It has only been tamed once.
Fish year-round
for a variety of native species including Dolly Varden, Arctic grayling
and rainbow trout, or try for Chinook salmon or steelhead (downstream
of the grand canyon) during the late summer and fall. A primitive
boat launch is available on the west side of the highway #37 bridge.
A Letter of
Permission is required for individuals or groups who wish to use
horses within the park. To obtain a Letter of Permission, please
contact the BC Parks Stikine Area Office at (250) 771-4591.
There are two
moderately short hiking trails in the Stikine River Provincial Park.
The first leads from a pullout near the northern park border to
a viewpoint overlooking the Tuya River. About 10 km beyond,
a trail leads to the floor of the valley and on to the confluence
of the Tuya and Stikine Rivers.
The park has
no camping facilities, but wilderness camping is permitted. The
Stikine River Park is an undeveloped wilderness area, so visitors
should be self-sufficient and properly equipped. Rustic campsites
with fire rings, picnic tables, tenting areas, and pit toilets are
available at Fountain Rapids, Chapea Rapids, Beggerlay Canyon (all
3 are portage trails), and at the canoe pull-out at the Highway
37 bridge.
The land in
the valley bottom of the Tahltan River is an Indian Reserve. Remember
that this is private land and permission is needed to camp there.
Stikine River
Provincial Park is located north of 40 Mile Flats off Highway 37.
Access is along the scenic Telegraph Creek Road, which leads 110
km from Dease Lake. Caution should be used when driving into the
site, as the road is steep and narrow in some places. The main canyon
on the Stikine runs from just west of the highway #37 bridge to
Telegraph Creek townsite.
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