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.
3Today, 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.