A 25-minute drive east from Harrison is Hope, where Hwys. 1,3,5 and 7 all meet. The city has a magnificent setting on the banks of the Fraser River with the Cascade Mountains forming a natural amphitheatre behind it. Hope is known as “the Chainsaw Carving Capital” and offers walking tours to sites of 20 giant wooden sculptures, all carved by local artist Peter Ryan. On Hwy. 3, Manning Provincial Park has cabins, chalets and four campgrounds, and offers year-round recreation. The Fraser Canyon is northeast of Hope on Hwy. 1. Its sheer rock walls spiral down to the rapids of the Fraser River below. (604) 869-2021

• Hope Museum. Exhibits on Simon Fraser, the fur-trade and gold rush days of Hope, Sto:lo artifacts and a restored gold concentrator.
• Othello Quintette Tunnels. One of the world’s greatest engineering feats, this series of tunnels was blasted for the now defunct Kettle Valley Railway. You can walk through these tunnels, where the Rambo-series movie First Blood was filmed, and over the two bridges that span the spectacular Coquihalla Gorge.
• Hope Land Slide. Just east of Hope on Highway 3, the remaining half of Johnson’s Peak is an irresistible draw. The peak came tumbling down into the valley in January 1965 ­ 46 million cubic feet of earth, rock and snow traveling at more than 160 km./h (95 mph).
• Yale Museum. Yale (northeast of Hope) was once a booming gold rush town of 30,000, with 17 saloons and 23 hotels. Its population is now 250, but the Museum gives a taste of what life used to be like here.
• St. John the Divine Church (Yale). Built in 1859, and believed to be the oldest church in B.C., it still stands on its original foundations.
• Spirit Cave Trail. Just south of Yale, an easy hike gives you a panoramic view of the Cascade Mountains.