Hell's Gate
Hell's Gate is a narrow pinch of 34 m within the Fraser Canyon, along the Fraser River.1 Its name appears to have originated from Simon Fraser's account of portaging around the gates of hell in his descent of the Fraser in 1808.2 By the time of the Fraser River Gold Rush, 1857-58, miners ensured that the name stuck, and this feature, which boasts and astonishing peak flow of over 900 million litres per minute, was likely an intimidating sentinel to the Fraser's various northward bars and other gold-mining sites.3
Today, visitors can view Hell's Gate from the safety of an aerial tram, unless they wish to raft the rapids, of course.4 Hell's Gate was also known as “Upper Narrows”, or “Big Canon”, as seen in this despatch.
  • 1. Hells Gate, Encyclopedia of BC.
  • 2. Ibid.
  • 3. Ibid.
  • 4. Ibid.
Mentions of this place in the documents
People in this document

Fraser, Simon

Places in this document

Fraser Canyon

Fraser River