My family and I did the Othello tunnels hike last weekend and what an experience it was. The last time I had been to the Othello tunnels was when I was a little kid camping in the area with my family. I had some great memories there and I wanted to make some new memories there with my kids. Hiking is one of our favorite activities to do as a family during the warmer months. This particular hike is perfect for small children. My girls are aged 10 (Belle),  7 (Aria) and 3 (Margaux) . Paul did have to carry Margaux most of the way because she just wasn’t having it, but the terrain is flat and walkable for young children if they so please.

Othello Tunnels History

In the 1900s the Canadian Pacific Railway built a route to link the Kootenay Region with BC coast by trail. The best way to do this was to cut through the Coquihalla Gorge.  Engineers had to cut through the solid granite walls and pass over the wild Coquihalla River to build a series of tunnels and bridges. These tunnels and bridges are known today as the Othello tunnels. The trail no longer has railway tracks, and is now apart of the Kettle Valley Trail that is a popular biking route that takes you through old tunnels and trestles. We actually biked the Kettle Valley Trail up in Kelwona two years ago which was a 24km round trip. Something I also recommend doing with the kids! We actually hope to do it again this summer so stay tuned for a blog post on that!

Othello Tunnels Hike

The Othello tunnels hike is a 5.4 km roundatrip loop. There are 2 ways that you can do this hike. The first is to walk through the tunnels and turn back around to take the same path back to the parking lot. This takes approximately 1 hour. The second is the trail that we chose which climbs up the mountain and goes through a series of small narrow trails. There are some pretty steep parts to this trail, it’s not very well groomed and there is a cliff on the left hand side of the trail pretty much the whole way through. I would NOT recommend choosing this trail if you are just looking for an easy day trip with the kids, but we like to rough things out as a family so we decided to take the path less traveled. This path took us another 1.5 hours but if you are choosing this path without kids you would be able to do it in less time.

If you want some good picture taking opportunities I would suggest arriving earlier rather than later as this hike does get quite busy. I would love to visit the Othello tunnels again this season this time with our bikes to take the kettle valley trail route! For more family friendly activities in BC check out my blog post on where to eat and stay in Powell River  or our family roadtrip to Port Hardy.

Have you been to the Othello Tunnels? What was your experience like?

Until next time,

xoxo

Beth

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Bethaly Miro

With this blog I strive to cultivate and foster a community that encourages and empowers women from all walks of life. I am a stay at home to my three beautiful daughters and I am married to my high school sweetheart and together we have built a life we love. You can usually find me with a book in one hand and a Starbucks coffee in the other. I hope that this blog brings you comfort in knowing that you aren’t alone in whatever it is you’re growing through as a mother, a wife, a woman.

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