Robson Valley

A farm near McBride, BC, with views into the Cariboo Mountains

The Robson Valley is a geographic region of the Canadian province of British Columbia, comprising the section of the Rocky Mountain Trench that lies southeast of the city of Prince George following the Fraser River to the Yellowhead Pass. The name is derived from Mount Robson, which stands near the entrance to the Yellowhead Pass. Communities in the Robson Valley include the settlements of Dome Creek, Crescent Spur, Dunster, and Tête Jaune Cache, with larger population concentrations in the villages of McBride and Valemount. On a map, the Robson Valley is located immediately south of the elbow in the boundary between Alberta and British Columbia. Transportation corridors through the Robson Valley include the Canadian National Railway lines, and Highways 16 and 5.

The Robson Valley is bounded on the south by the Columbia Country, farther south down the Rocky Mountain Trench, and the Thompson Country, via Canoe Pass, and is flanked on its east by the Rocky Mountains and on the west by the Cariboo Mountains.

First Nations

Within the Robson Valley region, there are eight traditional First Nations groups: Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, Simpcw First Nation, Lhtako Dene Nation, Canim Lake Indian Band, Xat’súll First Nation (Soda Creek), Shuswap First Nation, Okanagan First Nation, Tsilhqot’in.

Railways

The railways served as part of the foundation of the Robson Valley. When the railways were built, two divisional points existed, one at Lucerne and the other at McBride, or Mile 90 as it was called. The railways that went through the Robson Valley were the Grand Trunk Pacific and Canadian Northern Railway, which later merged, between 1918 and 1923, into the Canadian National Railway.