Canoe River is a tributary of the Columbia River in British Columbia, Canada. Its lower reach is flooded by Mica Dam. The lower Canoe River is called Canoe Reach, part of the Mica Dam's reservoir, Kinbasket Lake.

Course

The Canoe River begins in the Cariboo Mountains, west of Valemount, British Columbia, and flows east to the vicinity of Valemount, then southeast to join the Columbia River at the "Big Bend" of the Columbia, just upriver from Mica Dam. The reservoir created by Mica Dam, Kinbasket Lake, extends up the Canoe River nearly to Valemount. This impounded portion of the river is called the Canoe Reach of Kinbasket Lake. Although originally the mouth of the Canoe River was at the Big Bend of the Columbia, today it is said to be at the northern end of Canoe Reach.

The main tributaries of Canoe River and Canoe Reach include Camp Creek, Packsaddle Creek, Dave Henry Creek, Yellowjacket Creek, Bulldog Creek, Ptarmigan Creek, Hugh Allan Creek, Grouse Creek, Windfall Creek, Howard Creek, Foster Creek (flows into Foster Arm), Dawson Creek, and, right at Big Bend, Wood River (flows into Wood Arm).

Most of Canoe River, in the form of Canoe Reach, occupies the Rocky Mountain Trench, the same valley as the upper Fraser River and its tributary the McLennan River, which reaches to Valemount. The Canoe River and Camp Creek, one of its main tributaries, drain a region just north and east of the headwaters of the North Thompson River.

History

The Canoe River was named by David Thompson, who spent the winter at Boat Encampment near the river's mouth in 1811.From the early 1820's until 1846 the Canoe River was a well travelled section of the York Factory Express HBC overland trade route between London via Hudson's Bay and Fort Vancouver on the lower Columbia River.

See also

• List of British Columbia rivers
• Tributaries of the Columbia River

References

1. Canoe River, BCGNIS Geographical Name Details

External links