:''This page is about natural hot spring near the First Nations community of Skatin 50 kilometres south of Pemberton Pemberton, British Columbia. For the town and associated rapids in the

East Kootenay The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...

see

Skookumchuck, British Columbia Skookumchuck is in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. This locality straddles both shores of the Kootenay River north of the mouth of the Lussier River. The crossing, on the merged section of highways 93 and 95, is by ro ...

; for the saltwater rapids at the mouth of Sechelt Inlet see

Skookumchuck Narrows Skookumchuck Narrows is a strait forming the entrance of Sechelt Inlet on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast in Canada. Before broadening into Sechelt Inlet, all of its tidal flow together with that of Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet must pa ...

. For other uses see Skookumchuck (disambiguation).'' Skookumchuck Hot Springs is a thermal spring in British Columbia. Its pre-colonial Native and preferred name is Tsek Hot Spring or T'sek Hot Spring. The former name is Saint Agnes Well. The springs are located near the

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

community of Skookumchuck (Former name on older maps) and more recently renamed /reverted to traditional name of Skatin ("ska-TEEN") is on the historic Harrison Lillooet Gold Rush trail in the

Lillooet River The Lillooet River is a major river of the southern Coast Mountains of British Columbia. It begins at Silt Lake, on the southern edge of the Lillooet Crown Icecap about 80 kilometres northwest of Pemberton and about 85 kilometres northwest of W ...

valley, south of

Lillooet Lake Lillooet Lake is a lake in British Columbia, Canada about 25 km in length and about 33.5 square kilometres (22 mi²) in area. It is about 95 km downstream from the source of the Lillooet River, which resumes its course after leavi ...

, in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada. The hot springs themselves, named Tsek in the St'at'imcets language (pronounced "chick") were on private property purchased from "Goodwin Purcell" family by the Trethewey family after his death in the 1909 and acquired by the Government of Canada in 2008 to be held in trust for the local aboriginal people until a potential treaty settlement. Tsek Hot Springs, formally known as Skookumchuck Hot Springs was also known as Saint Agnes Well during the days of the

Fraser Canyon Gold Rush The Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, (also Fraser Gold Rush and Fraser River Gold Rush) began in 1858 after gold was discovered on the Thompson River in British Columbia at its confluence with the Nicoamen River a few miles upstream from the Thompson's c ...

and the Douglas Road, along which it is located, while Harrison Hot Springs farther south was known as St. Alice's Well; both were named by Justice Bailey for the daughters of Governor Douglas. Near the community formerly named Skookumchuck -now reverted & renamed Skatin were road houses known as "18 Mile House" or "20 Mile House", a reference to its distance from

Port Douglas Port Douglas is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Douglas, Queensland, Australia, approximately 60 km north of Cairns. In the , Port Douglas had a population of 3,504 people. The town's population can often double, however, with the in ...

, at the Douglas Road's commencement at the head of Harrison Lake. An Oblate mission was established in the 1860s and under direction of the priests, the native community began to build a village at Skookumchuck, about 4 kilometres south of the hot springs. As settling progressed, the Stl'itl'imx people built a striking

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures ...

/ Wood Gothic church in 1908, which was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1981, and remains standing and in use today, the Church of the Holy Cross. A prominent feature are the simple but elegant stained red & blue glass windows (see Skatin for details). The hot springs are managed by members of the Skatin community; camping is available for a fee. Many local families still use the hot springs, and visitors are asked to respect local family values, be discreet in language and behaviour, and to wait until children have finished bathing before entering the hot tubs. Road improved most of the way. In the Spring of 2015 dirt In-SHUCK-ch Forest Service Road / FSR was widened from 1 to 1 1/2 lanes to 2 lanes + two 1/2 lane shoulders (i.e. 3 lanes) for the whole length of

. The Last section is still rough.

References

BCGNIS listing "Skookumchuck (locality)"BCGNIS listing "Tsek (springs)"BCGNIS listing "Harrison Hot Springs"
{{authority control Populated places in the Fraser Valley Regional District Lillooet Country Sea-to-Sky Corridor St'at'imc Indian reserves in British Columbia Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Hot springs of British Columbia