Rogers Pass

The CPR and the Trans-Canada Highway use Rogers Pass through the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia. Rogers Pass shortcuts the “Big Bend” of the Columbia River from Revelstoke on the west to Donald, near Golden, on the east.

The headwaters of the Illecillewaet River create Rogers Pass to the west, and by the Beaver River to the east, both of the rivers are tributaries of the Columbia River, which loops around to the north of the pass.

Two transportation corridors cross the chain: the Trans-Canada highway and CPR running west out of Revelstoke, and then further south, highway 6.

The steep grade of Rogers Pass is very treacherous, so in 1916 the Connaught Tunnel was built to bypass it.  In 1962 the Trans-Canada was inaugurated, and it again formed part of a national route.