Cycling British Columbia’s Awesome Myra Canyon
One of the most spectacular cycling routes in all of Canada has to be the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, in south-central British Columbia. It’s an abandoned rail line that has been converted into a multi-use recreational path – and it’s an integral part of the Trans Canada Trail. The trail forges through harsh wilderness, rugged mountains, blasted rock, thick forests, near-desert terrain, and immense canyons, so the scenery is magnificent – and the cycling incredible. And the best, most popular section of this awesome route is located near Kelowna, for it takes the cyclist through the eye-popping magnificence of Myra Canyon!
A Guided Tour
I rode this section, known as the “Myra Canyon Trestle Tour”, with Joe Kyle, of Monashee Adventure Tours, and this rather short but breathtaking adventure trek took me over 18 spectacular trestles and through 2 blasted rock tunnels. The round trip is only about 20 km in total – but what a ride!
Towering Trestles
As I crossed the towering trestles, I noticed that my hands gripped the handlebars more tightly, for I was suspended precariously above the canyon – and it was rather scary. Joe told me that these trestles are a real challenge for visitors who dislike heights, and “some have to walk across, or be carefully led across each trestle.” However, Joe went on to say that these trestles are far safer now than they used to be. “Some of the trestles were in rather bad shape, through disrepair and vandalism, so these were truly ‘white-knuckle’ crossings back then – and many of the bridges didn’t even have handrails, so they were rather dangerous, open crossings.”
Joe went on to tell me that the province purchased this rail corridor by 1990, and that by 1992, a “Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society” was formed. This group of volunteers, led by Director Ken Campbell, vowed to improve the trestles for visitor safety, so boardwalks (to cover open trestle ties and timbers) and guard rails (to prevent going ‘over the edge’) were added, and these improvements led, of course, to increased use by cyclists and hikers. By January of 2003, this section of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail was designated a National Historic Site.
Fire & Reconstruction
I’d actually planned to ride this famous section several years ago but, unfortunately, in August of 2003, a devastating forest fire destroyed much of this canyon area, including 12 of the 18 trestles! It had saddened me at the time, and I’d wondered if I’d missed my opportunity to ever ride here!
Through the efforts of dedicated volunteers, generous donations, and the involvement of various levels of government, funds were eventually raised – and the trestles were all miraculously rebuilt (at a cost of several million dollars). It’s as if these trestles had been reborn, phoenix-like, out of the ashes! The ‘new’ Myra Canyon portion of the trail was officially opened in 2008 – and it’s now actually safer, better and more popular than ever.
My Exhilarating Canyon Ride
My opportunity to ride through the Myra Canyon finally came! As Joe and I cycled along the rail trail, we stopped at an information board, where photos were posted of the actual fire of 2003, with trestles in flames! There were explanations of how brave firefighters had tried to salvage the railroad bridges by dousing them with anti-inflammatory materials – but to no avail. Even now, as we rode along here these years later, the signs of the devastating fire were still to be seen, and I took many photos of the charred remains of the forested canyon, and the promising signs of rebirth, too.
We began and ended our ride at the main access point at Myra Station, in Kelowna’s Myra-Bellevue Provincial Park (a day-use park), and this avoided a very steep climb by bike from downtown Kelowna. I soon discovered that the cycling on this particular trail was actually surprisingly easy, for it was on a relatively flat and hard packed gravel rail-bed, with several benches and explanatory signs – and some incredible lookout points.
A History Lesson
I learned much about the history of the rail line during this cycling excursion. The core portion of the Kettle Valley Railroad had run between Midway (Mile “0” of the trail) and Hope, through the Okanagan Valley, and it was constructed in the early 1900s, after silver had been discovered near Nelson. The rail line was, indeed, a very challenging transportation route to build through the mountainous terrain, but it was begun in 1910, to connect the Kootenays and the BC coast – and engineer Andrew McCullough completed this extraordinary feat by 1915. It soon became known as “McCullough’s Wonder”, for there were so many tunnels and trestles required. It was also evident that McCullough himself was very fond of Shakespeare, for he named many of the stations along the Coquihalla section of the route after Shakespearian characters, including Romeo & Juliet, Lear, Portia, and Iago. He also named a particularly challenging series of tunnels, in the Coquihalla Gorge, “Othello Tunnels”, where a quintet of tunnels, intertwined with several bridges, were built through the sheer granite cliffs.
The Kettle Valley Rail Line remained an integral part of the daily passenger and freight service between Vancouver and Nelson for many years, but because of the soaring costs of maintaining this line, certain sections began to be phased out, and the entire line was eventually closed. It has now been converted to this wonderful recreation path!