Day Trips & Getaways
Granite railway tunnels over a turquoise gorge, 80-plus chainsaw carvings, and a 90-minute drive most people waste by not stopping.
Hope & Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park
More infoHope sits where three mountain ranges meet and gets treated like a motorway services, everyone halfway to somewhere else. Big mistake. Tucked in town are the Othello Tunnels: granite railway tunnels blasted through the Coquihalla Canyon a century ago, where a flat, easy trail walks you through pitch-dark passages that open onto a turquoise river thundering through a slot gorge. Add Hope's 80-plus chainsaw carvings. Ninety minutes, jaw-dropping.
Head east on Hwy 1 to Hope (~90 min, no tolls), then follow Othello Rd to the Othello Tunnels parking lot in Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park. The trail is flat, wide, and family-easy, a ~3.5 km round trip through the Kettle Valley Railway tunnels, where you pass from bright daylight into pitch-black passages and out over the Coquihalla River churning through a narrow gorge (bring a phone light; it gets genuinely dark inside). As of the 2026 season, Tunnels 1 to 5 are open from the parking lot, with the trail closed beyond Tunnel 5, still the full dramatic stretch and absolutely worth it (always check the BC Parks page before you go, as flood/wind closures have come and gone). Back in town, walk the self-guided chainsaw-carving tour (map at the Visitor Centre, 919 Water Ave) past 80-plus giant wooden sculptures, grab lunch on Wallace Street, and detour 20 minutes west to Bridal Veil Falls for a misty 15-minute trail to a waterfall. Couples: time the tunnels for golden hour, then a cozy small-town dinner; the canyon-and-tunnel photos are show-stoppers. Solo: it's a meditative, easy walk with huge payoff and zero crowds midweek. Tight on time? The tunnels plus the carvings make a perfect day trip; with a night you can add Bridal Veil Falls, the Hope Slide viewpoint, and a slow morning before driving home.
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door to door
~1 hr 30 min by car
from Vancouver
150 km
how long
Day trip or one night
best window
May to October (tunnels typically open ~April 1 to Oct 31
Hwy 1 east from Vancouver straight to Hope (~150 km, 90 min, no tolls). For the tunnels, take Exit 183 / Kawkawa Lake Rd to Othello Rd and the Coquihalla Canyon Park lot. The whole route is freeway and easy.
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