Monashee Pass, , is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

in the

Monashee Mountains The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range lying mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a sub-range of the Columbia Mountains. The hig ...

of the Southern Interior of British Columbia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Located southeast of Cherryville, the pass is used by

British Columbia Highway 6 Highway 6 is a two-lane highway passing between the Kootenay and Okanagan regions in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is divided into two parts—the Nelson-Nelway Highway between the Canada–United States border and Nelson, and the ...

connecting Vernon to

Nakusp The Village of Nakusp () is located south of the mouth of Kuskanax Creek, on the Upper Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Lying between the Selkirk and Monashee ranges, the village is known for its nearb ...

on Arrow Lake, and beyond to the cities of the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootena ...

. It is the "

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

col" for

Big White Mountain Big White Mountain is the highest mountain of the Okanagan Highland, Canada, and also of the Beaverdell Range, a subrange of that formation, which lies between the Okanagan Valley to its west and the main spine of the Monashee Mountains The M ...

, which is the highest mountain to its southwest. The word Monashee is from the Gaelic ''monadh'', meaning mountain, and ''sith'', pronounced shee, meaning peace. Monashee therefore means mountain of peace. Note that Monashee Summit, is slightly further southeast on Hwy 6 (near the Lost Lake Rest Area), and is the actual high point on the highway between Vernon & Arrow Lake.

References

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Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia entry
Mountain passes of British Columbia Monashee Mountains Arrow Lakes Osoyoos Division Yale Land District {{BritishColumbiaInterior-mountain-stub