The Cheakamus River (pron. CHEEK-a-mus) is a tributary of the

Squamish River The Squamish River is a short but very large river in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its drainage basin is in size. The total length of the Squamish River is approximately . Course The Squamish River drains a complex of basins in the ...

, beginning on the west slopes of Outlier Peak in

Garibaldi Provincial Park Garibaldi Provincial Park, also called Garibaldi Park, is a wilderness park located on the coastal mainland of British Columbia, Canada, 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) north of Vancouver. It was established in 1920 and named a Class A Provincial P ...

upstream from

Cheakamus Lake Cheakamus Lake is a lake in Garibaldi Provincial Park on the southeastern outskirts of the resort municipality of Whistler, British Columbia. It has an area of 5.7 km2 (2.2 mi2). It is an expansion of the upper Cheakamus River, with the ...

on the southeastern outskirts of the resort area of Whistler. The river flows into Cheakamus Lake before exiting it and flowing northwest until it turns south and enters Daisy Lake. Between the outlet of Daisy Lake and its mouth, much of its length is spent going through Cheakamus Canyon, where the river flows through swift rapids and even one good sized waterfall. The river flows south from the lake and through the canyon before joining the Squamish River at

Cheekye Cheekye is an unincorporated locality on the Cheakamus River just upstream from its confluence with its parent stream, the Squamish, and just north of Brackendale, British Columbia, which is part of the District of Squamish, British Columbia, C ...

, a few miles north of the town of Squamish. The river's name is an anglicization of the name of

Chiyakmesh Chiyakmesh is a community of the Indigenous Squamish people, located near Squamish, British Columbia. The name of the Cheakamus River comes from the name of this community, which is located on Cheakamus Indian Reserve No. 11. Chiyakamesh translat ...

("people of the fish weir"), a village of the

Squamish people The Squamish people ( Squamish: ''Skwxwú7mesh'' , historically transliterated as Sko-ko-mish) are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Archaeological evidence shows they have lived in the area for more than a thousand years. In 2 ...

and a reserve of the

Squamish Nation The Squamish Nation, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw () in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim (Squamish language), is an Indian Act government originally imposed on the Squamish (''Sḵwx̱wú7mesh'') by the Federal Government of Canada in the late 19th cen ...

. The c. 70 km (c.44 mi) length of the Cheakamus is followed by British Columbia Highway 99 (the

Sea-to-Sky Highway Highway 99 is a provincial highway in British Columbia that serves Greater Vancouver and the Squamish–Lillooet corridor over a length of . It is a major north–south artery within Vancouver and connects the city to several suburbs as well a ...

) and the

British Columbia Railway BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...

. The Cheakamus is a

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits facin ...

route, and is known for its

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia an ...

and

salmon Salmon () is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...

fishing. Much of the flow of the upper Cheakamus is diverted from Daisy Lake beneath the mountains to the west to the

Cheakamus Powerhouse Cheakamus is an anglicization of Chiyakmesh, the Skwxw7mesh language name for one of their villages, now located on Cheakamus Indian Reserve No. 11. Cheakamus may also refer to: *Cheakamus River * Cheakamus Lake * Cheakamus Powerhouse, on the Sq ...

on the Squamish River. Notable just north of Daisy Lake is Brandywine Falls. The Nordic events complex of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May Doan Nancy GreeneWayne Gr ...

was located on Callaghan Creek, a tributary of the Cheakamus just upstream from Brandywine Creek.

Largest tributaries

Callaghan Creek Callaghan most commonly refers to O'Callaghan, an Anglicized Irish surname. Callaghan may also refer to: Places * Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia * Callaghan, Edmonton, Canada * Callaghan, Virginia Callaghan is an Unincorporated communit ...

and

Callaghan Valley The Callaghan Valley is located in the Sea to Sky Country of southwestern, British Columbia, in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains 90 km north of Vancouver. It was the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics's Whistler Olympic Park, the venue ...

* Brandywine Creek *

Cheekye River The Cheekye River is a river in southwestern British Columbia, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean ...

Cheakamus River derailment

On August 5, 2005, a long

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

train, heading inland from Brackendale, derailed and nine empty lumber flat cars along with one tank car of

sodium hydroxide Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkal ...

crashed off the main bridge, falling into the river. The tank car spilled its contents into the river, killing an estimated 500,000+ fish. Six years later, a local Vancouver News channel reported on the return of the fish to the river.

References

{{authority control Canyons and gorges of British Columbia Sea-to-Sky Corridor Rivers of the Pacific Ranges New Westminster Land District Rivers of British Columbia

Largest tributaries

Cheakamus River derailment

See also

References