- Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park
Infobox_protected_area | name = Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park
iucn_category =
caption = Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park inBritish Columbia
locator_x = 178
locator_y = 198
location =Canada
nearest_city = Lillooet
lat_degrees = 50.70633
lat_minutes =
lat_seconds =
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 122.29329
long_minutes =
long_seconds =
long_direction = W
area = 0.7 Hectares
established = March 29, 1972
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
governing_body =BC Parks Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park is aprovincial park inBritish Columbia ,Canada .It was established to commemorate the location of the first railway in the province of British Columbia. The km to mi|3 long railway was built in 1861 for transport of miners' goods on the route to the Fraser goldfields in which the Portage was an important link (then known as Short Portage). The railway was horse-drawn in the uphill direction - a difference of only 15m between the two lakes, and used gravity for its descent. Known as Dozier's Way after its proprietor, Carl Dozier, the roadbed of the route remains today as the route of most of Portage Road from
Nkiat to the "downtown" of Seton Portage toSlosh , though part of its route is preserved by the historic park(Nkiat andSlosh are two First Nations villages which are where the one-time gold rush ports of Wapping and Flushing were located). Though the route was used for heavy transit again, the early railway operated only a few years, though some transport and passenger traveled through the route, despites its becoming a backwater relative to other areas of the province and the Douglas Road became forgotten. Seton Portage received its current name in 1858, the centennial of the gold rush and the colony's creation, until which time it was known as the Short Portage - but also, with Shalalth, as "Seton". TheLillooet Cattle Trail was built through the same route as theDouglas Road but, despite an ingenious and fragile catwalk along the cliffs of eastern Seton Lake, was not usable in the long run and was abandoned and derelict by the time thePacific Great Eastern connected the Seton communities to Lillooet in 1915.Facilities
A gravel-bed campground is more suitable for vehicular camping than tenting, and is lcoated adjacent to the railway line through the Portage. The site is forested with pine and the light underbrush typical of the area's climate. Stores, a motel and restaurant are located within walking distance, as is the foot of Anderson Lake and the beaches there. At the park, in addition to campgrounds, picnic tables and sanitary facilities, an old railway
caboose hosts the present day information center.The park can be found west of Lillooet, along the
Seton River , between Anderson Lake andSeton Lake , immediately west of the settlement of Seton Portage. Passenger service to this location is no longer available, other than a local run from Lillooet, on theCanadian National Railway line. Access is otherwise via the arduousMission Mountain Road or the even more difficultAnderson Lake Highline Road , which are Seton Portage's and Shalalth's only road access to the outside world.It was established on March 29, 1972 on land donated by the
British Columbia Railway to the province.ee also
*
List of British Columbia Provincial Parks External links
*Cite web|url=http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/seton.html|title=Seton Portage Historic Provincial Park|author=BC Parks
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