Location: Junction of Highway 12 and Highway 99

How to get there:  Map

Quick Facts: Name: The Town was renamed in the mid 1860s in honour of the Leelwat First Nations people who live in the region Population: About 2,800, with another 4,500 in the surrounding region for which Lillooet serves as the commercial and social "downtown" Elevation: 240 meters Climate: A hot dry summer with a moderate to cold winter. Average daytime summer temperatures highs 38 lows 25 Average daytime winter temperature highs 0 to 10, lows -10

At one time Lillooet was the largest settlement in British Columbia.

It's importance is evident in that the Mile "0" Cairn that marks the beginning of the famous Cariboo Trail is placed in Lillooet. Miners and traders used this route to the British Columbia interior and it was vitally important during the Cariboo Gold Rush. The cairn was used as a measure for all the mile posts to the north; 83 Mile, 100 Mile House, 150 Mile House are examples where communities have grown up along the Gold Rush Trail.

Lillooet it situated on the banks of BC's mighty Fraser River, affording visitors a wonderful display of nature's beauty. Those who arrive from the south either by rail or road are privy to some of BC's most awe inspiring sights - everything from roaring river canyons to majestic mountains.

Economy

Its economy is based around logging, the railway, ranching, farming, and government services. The town has had several booms and busts, relying on forestry since the mid-1970s although previous booms were connected with Fraser Canyon and Cariboo Gold Rushes, the building of the Lillooet Cattle Trail, another gold rush adjacent to town in the 1880s and another nearby in the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, and spinoffs from the development of the Bridge River goldfields from the 1910s onwards. Lillooet's economy also boomed in the 1940s and 50s during the construction of the Bridge River Power Project, which includes a dam, canal and powerhouse on the outskirts of town.

History

Lillooet was originally “cayoush flats”, called so by the native Indians who lived in the area as it was good grazing land for the Indian ponies called “cayuses”. The area was visited by explorer Simon Fraser around 1808 during his journey down the river that he gave his name to and by other traders during the following years. In the early 1860’s the governor of the time James Douglas named the town Lillooet after the Indian people gave acceptance to the name and it soon became the second largest town north of San Francisco and to the west of Chicago due to the discovery of gold in the area. read more...

Lillooet is an important First Nations location, the history of the Lillooet area can be traced back an estimated 10,000 years. Just over 1/2 of the people in Lillooet and area are St'at'imc. Considered to be one of the oldest continuously-inhabited locations on the continent, the area is reckoned by archaeologists to have been inhabited for several thousand years.

The Stl'atl'imx People (Lillooet, Nequatque & In-SHUCK-ch First Nations) read here...