Rocky Mountaineer® - Fraser Discovery Route
Adventure, discovery, and legendary service. Experience dramatic changes in climate and scenery from lush farmland to the desert like conditions of the Fraser Canyon. Cross the Fraser River, the lifeblood of British Columbia, and peer into endless northern forests.
From rolling hills to majestic mountain peaks, vast cattle ranches to mountain meadows, the Fraser Discovery Route carries you through the rarely seen beauty of the North West, the historic gold-rush region of the Cariboo and the Canadian Rockies.
The two-day, all daylight, journey with an overnight stay in the historical gold rush town of Quesnel ensures that not a moment of this fascinating landscape will be missed.
SERVICE CLASSES
FEATURED CITIES
Whistler
A world famous resort-town nestled in British Columbia's coastal mountains. Just 2 hours from Vancouver along the outstandingly scenic Sea to Sky Highway, Whistler Village features West Coast architecture and spectacular mountain views. The extensive ski opportunities and perfect ski conditions made Whistler the top-rated ski resort in North America, but the countless other outdoor activities and unique cultural vibe make the resort a favourite year after year.
Jasper
Located in the heart of the Canadian Rockies with access to Jasper National Park and its unspoiled grandeur. Jasper is a world renowned four season resort with scenery of rugged glacier capped mountains, sparkling lakes, and lush forests, as well as plentiful activities such as skiing, hiking, horseback riding, and wildlife viewing.
Quesnel
This quaint city is positioned at the mouth of Quesnel River where the gold rush took root. Quesnel invites visitors to celebrate heritage and days-gone-by with its annual Billy Barker Days festival in honour of the prospector who began the gold rush.
HIGHLIGHTS
Anderson
& Seton Lakes
Anderson and Seton Lakes were once a large body of water. An ancient landslide, resulting from a tectonic shift along the fault line of Christmas Mountain, made the large lake into two. Despite the difficulty of the pass, the piece of land separating the two lakes became an important trading route to the Upper Fraser. Rounding Seton Lake, the train hugs a narrow shelf between the lake on one side and sheer cliffs on the other. The distinctiveness of these two lakes is reflected as the diverted glacial melt-water changes the colour of Seton Lake from clear blue, like Anderson Lake, to a silty turquoise green.
Cariboo Plateau
A powerful sheet of ice a mile thick created this intensely glaciated plateau. Grinding mountain peaks into valleys, the ancient glacier left behind a dry and pastoral landscape. Rolling hills, endless forests and vast cattle ranches are characteristic of the area.
Fraser River
The mighty Fraser River is the longest river in British Columbia and the 5th longest in all of Canada. The rushing waters carve through rock layers and carry sediment from the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Georgia Strait and the Pacific Ocean. Heavy with sediment, the waters are a muddy brown to milky green. Named after Simon Fraser, who originally mistook the river to be the Columbia River, the Fraser produces more salmon than any other river system in the world. It is estimated that 10 million salmon travel up the Fraser River to spawn each year and First Nations people continue to use traditional fishing methods along its shores.
Fraser Canyon
South of Quesnel the Fraser has eroded a deep canyon that extends all the way to Hope, with steep sides soaring up to 600 metres (1980 feet) above the water.
Rocky Mountain
Trench
Leaving Prince George the rails turn southeast into the remarkable Rocky Mountain Trench. The longest valley in North America, the trench sits wide and deep between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Cariboo and Columbia ranges on the west. It extends from just south of the Yukon border all the way to the Canada-US border and beyond.
Tete Jaune Cache
A sandy haired Iroquois man, nicknamed Tête Jaune or Yellow Head, gives this spot its name. The man not only worked as an interpreter for European traders, but he also trapped fur in this region. He stored his bounty in a cache nearby during the winter until he could cross the Rockies to the nearest Hudson's Bay Company out post in the spring. The path he took is now called the Yellowhead pass. Once home to 5000 people, Tête Jaune Cache was a teeming scene during the construction of the railway.
Mount Robson
Soaring a majestic 3,956.5 metres (12,972 feet), this heavily glaciated peak is the highest of the Canadian Rockies. Dropping into Berg Lake to the North and Kinney Lake to the South, this mountain is a towering giant compared to the snow tipped peaks that surround it. Originally, this great mountain was named Yuh-hai-has-kun, meaning "The Mountain of the Spiral Road" by the aboriginal people in the area.
Jasper National
Park
Declared a protected area in 1907, Jasper Park is the largest of the Canadian Rockies National Parks. Parks Canada oversees the management of the national parks with the goal to preserve them foremost as a place of nature but also as a place for people to visit, experience and learn. Significant numbers of elk, moose, bighorn sheep and other large animals make Jasper National Park their home. Other highlights include Miette Hot Springs, Maligne Canyon, Maligne Lake and the northern portion of the stunning Icefields Parkway.
VACATION PACKAGES