Dean Channel is the upper end of one of the longest inlets of the

British Columbia Coast The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada ...

, from its head at the mouth of the Kimsquit River. The Dean River, one of the main rivers of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains () are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the British Columbia Coast, Coast of British Columbia sout ...

, enters Dean Channel about below the head of the inlet, at the community of Kimsquit.

History

Dean Channel was named by Captain Vancouver in 1793 after Rev. James King, Dean of Raphoe, Ireland. The channel was surveyed by Captain Richards in 1861 of HMS ''Hecate''. It is located within the Central Coast region.

Branches

Ending at the mouth of Cousins Inlet, which is the harbour for the abandoned town of Ocean Falls, the fjord's name changes to Fisher Channel down the west side of King Island. Below Fisher Channel's length the fjord merges with Burke Channel, which is a arm of the Dean/Fisher Channel on the east side of King Island, the name of the

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

changes to Fitz Hugh Sound, which is considerably wider than the upper part of the fjord at about in width and is itself about in length. Fitz Hugh Sound passes on the inside of Calvert Island and opens onto Queen Charlotte Sound just northwest of the opening of Queen Charlotte Strait. Opening onto Fitz Hugh Sound in its lower reaches near Queen Charlotte Sound is Rivers Inlet, home of the Wuikinuxv (Owekeeno)

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

. The total length of the fjord from the head of Dean Channel to the mouth of Fitz Hugh Sound is about rivalling

Hardangerfjord The Hardangerfjord () is the fifth longest fjord in the world, and the second longest fjord in Norway. It is located in Vestland county in the Hardanger region. The fjord stretches from the Atlantic Ocean into the mountainous interior of No ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

for length. If the additional lengths of South Bentinck Arm () and North Bentinck Arm (), plus Burke Channel and its shorter companion, Labouchere Channel (), and an arm of Burke named Kwatna Inlet () were factored in, total length of the fjord complex's waterways is - longer than

Sognefjord The Sognefjord or Sognefjorden (, ), nicknamed the King of the Fjords (), is the list of Norwegian fjords, longest and deepest fjord in Norway. Located in Vestland county in Western Norway, it stretches inland from the ocean to the small village ...

's and rivalling

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

Scoresby Sound Scoresby Sound (Danish: ''Scoresby Sund'', Greenlandic language, Greenlandic: ''Kangertittivaq'') is a large fjord system of the Greenland Sea on the eastern coast of Greenland. It has a tree-like structure, with a main body approximately

's .

North Bentinck Arm

A side-inlet of Burke Channel, North Bentinck Arm, is noteworthy as the place where the overland expedition by

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

explorer Alexander Mackenzie reached the sea, on July 20, 1793. Wanting to see the open ocean, Mackenzie and four Nuxalk people went by canoe the next day to Dean Channel. Mackenzie did not reach the open ocean, stopping at the ruins of an old

Heiltsuk The Heiltsuk , sometimes historically referred to as ''Bella Bella'', or ''Híɫzaqv'' are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Indigenous people of the Central Coast Regional District, Central Coast region in British Columbia, ...

village on the north side of Dean Channel. There he wrote his name on a rock, which today is part of Sir Alexander Mackenzie Provincial Park. Mackenzie did not know that he arrived just a few weeks after Captain

George Vancouver Captain (Royal Navy), Captain George Vancouver (; 22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a Royal Navy officer and explorer best known for leading the Vancouver Expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Uni ...

visited Dean Channel and North Bentinck Arm. The town of Bella Coola is at the head of North Bentinck Arm; Bella Coola is an English adaptation of the

name for the Nuxalk (whose name in their own language means the Bella Coola River and its

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

). Bella Coola is the only community on the coast between

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and Kitimat, to have road access to the rest of the province, via British Columbia Highway 20 to Williams Lake via the Chilcotin region.

References

{{coord, 52, 28, 44, N, 127, 14, 22, W, region:CA-BC_type:waterbody_source:http://www4.rncan.gc.ca/search-place-names/unique/JAPER, name=Dean Channel, display=title Fjords of British Columbia History of British Columbia Central Coast of British Columbia Channels of British Columbia