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Kumsheen Raft Adventures |
800-663-6667 |
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REO Rafting Adventures |
800-736-7238 |
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The Waterpeople Expeditions |
800-908-8138 |
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| Section |
Chilko
Lake to Lillooet |
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Location |
West
and south of Williams Lake, south-central British Columbia |
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Driving Time |
Williams
Lake—5 hours |
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Difficulty |
Class II-V |
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Trip Length |
Chilko—40 miles (64 km);
Chilcotin—75 miles (120 km); Fraser—120 miles (192 km) |
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Trip Options |
Oar raft, paddle/oar raft;
motorized raft; six to eleven days |
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Season |
June-September |
The Chilko and Chilcotin
rivers, in central British Columbia, provide one of the premier
multiday rafting trips available. Chilko's dynamic Lava Canyon and
the Chilcotin Plateau's distinctive semiarid environment—which
includes ridgetop forests, cacti in grass valleys, California
bighorn sheep, and mule deer—combine to create a wilderness river
experience similar to Idaho's famed Middle Fork of the Salmon.
Access
to the isolated Chilko River is normally made via small aircraft to
its source, 4,000-foot Chilko Lake. Below the lake, the easy first
stretch of the river provides an ideal introduction to whitewater
rafting. Mellow Class I-II waters give rafters an opportunity to
test their whitewater skills and experience the pristine wilderness.
The
Chilko River, after 23 miles (37 km), enters the spectacular Class
IV-V Lava Canyon. Much of the anticipation (and anxiety) of the
17-mile (27 km) canyon is because some of its more difficult Class V
rapids cannot be scouted. Immediately below Lava Canyon the Chilko
joins the Taseko to form the Chilcotin River.
The
Chilcotin also has its share of excellent whitewater rapids, which
get more difficult as the trip proceeds downriver. Its best Class
III-IV rapids are found in Farewell and Big John canyons, just prior
the Chilcotin's confluence with the Fraser River.
Following
the five- or six-days of rafting on the Chilko-Chilcotin rivers,
outfitters frequently run up to three or four additional days on the
Fraser River. During the southward journey of the Fraser through
isolated steep canyons, the most prominent features are the
breathtaking hoodoos—rock spires capped with slate—and the
2,000-foot-deep Moran Canyon, location of some the Fraser's best
whitewater. Rafters will frequently see Indians netting salmon on
the Fraser.
The
ten- to eleven-day Chilko/Chilcotin/Fraser raft trip to Lillooet is
similar in time and distance (230 miles, 345 km) to the Colorado
River's Grand Canyon rafting trip.
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