Goldpan Provincial Park, Provincial park in Thompson-Nicola Regional District, Canada
Goldpan Provincial Park is a 5-hectare provincial park on the south bank of the Thompson River, about 27 km west of Lytton and 9 km east of Spences Bridge along Highway 1. It is a narrow strip squeezed between the river and the highway, with a Canadian Pacific Railway main line on its far side and a Canadian National Railway line across the water. Campsites sit above the highway; a picnic area and riverfront lie below.
Goldpan Provincial Park was established in 1956, when the province was setting up campgrounds along the Trans-Canada Highway. Long before that, the area was a hunting and fishing ground for First Nations, mainly the Yale and Nlaka'pamux. The park's name recalls the gold panning of the region's past, but the sources do not link its creation to the Cariboo Gold Rush.
The name Goldpan recalls the placer prospecting that drew miners to the Thompson River country, though the park itself dates from 1956, when campsites were laid out along the Trans-Canada Highway. Long before that, the riverbanks were hunting and fishing grounds for the Yale and Nlaka'pamux First Nations. Today the park is a stop for anglers after rainbow trout and steelhead.
The park lies on the south bank of the Thompson River, about 27 km west of Lytton and 9 km east of Spences Bridge, squeezed between Highway 1 and the Canadian Pacific Railway. Camping is above the highway, while the picnic area and riverfront are below. There are 14 non-reservable pitches for tents and motorhomes and a very basic sanitary facility.
The park is only 5 hectares, squeezed between Highway 1 and a Canadian Pacific Railway main line, with a Canadian National Railway line running on the far bank of the Thompson River. Its dry, semi-arid ground supports prickly pear cacti such as Opuntia fragilis and sagebrush, and Pacific rattlesnakes are occasionally seen.
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