Built by the CPR as part of the Columbia & Western Railway, this section of the line was amalgamated with the Kettle Valley Railway and saw service until the last train ran in 1991. Over the course of the next few years the tracks were taken up and the railbed eventually became a rail trail, managed by the
Columbia and Western Trail Society (C&WTS). Here, the distinction between the Kettle Valley Rail Trail and the Columbia & Western Rail Trail has become blurred, as the signs at this point refer to the trail as the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, though the line was originally part of the Columbia & Western Railway. That's of no real consequence, though, as they're all part of the Trans Canada Trail now. On the Trans Canada Trail, this section is officially known as the Columbia and Western Trail (Grand Forks to Christina Lake).
The Columbia and Western Rail Trail is 162 Km long from Castlegar, British Columbia to Midway, B.C. and travels the abandoned Canadian Pacific Boundary Subdivision with the last train going through in 1991. In 2000 the C.P.R. donated the line to the Province of British Columbia for a Recreational trail to form [part of] the British Columbia [section of the] Trans-Canada Trail network.
From the C&WTS
This trailhead is extremely accessible, the parking area being right on Highway 395 at the ghost town of Cascade City, an old mining town which essentially disappeared when the local mines played out. There are still a handful of residents living in the quiet serenity of the outskirts of the old town. Much of the original town site is now the
Christina Lake Golf Course, a
Les Furber course in a wilderness setting.
From this point one may head either east or west, depending on which side of the highway one parks. West takes one along the Kettle River Valley toward the city of Grand Forks, while east takes one past Christina Lake, then through wilderness to the city of Castlegar.
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