Grand Canyon of the Stikine

The Grand Canyon of the Stikine is a 45 mile (72 km) stretch of the Stikine River in northern British Columbia, Canada. It has been compared to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. The canyon is home to a large population of mountain goats and other wildlife. Officially the canyon is described as unnavigable by any watercraft, however there have been numerous successful descents made by expert whitewater paddlers since the first attempt in 1981. Since it was first attempted, the Grand Canyon of the Stikine has maintained a legendary reputation among whitewater experts as the 'Mt. Everest' of big water expedition whitewater boating against which all other navigable rivers are measured.

The canyon begins in the vicinity of the 130th line of longitude, south of Tsenaglode Lake. The first road bridge across the Stikine was built in the 1970s as part of the Stewart-Cassiar Highway (BC Highway 37). The bridge is situated just upstream of the start of the canyon section. An earlier pole-bridge had been constructed across the river in the area of Telegraph Creek, built by the Tahltan people from scavenged wire and other abandoned material left by the crews of the Collins Overland Telegraph project in the 1860s.

The canyon section comes to an end (or eases off) at the community of Telegraph Creek.

The canyon is steep-walled and was formed by the Stikine River cutting through layers of sedimentary and volcanic rock. The canyon is 300 metres (984 ft) deep in places. The Stikine River flowing through it varies in width from 200 metres (656 ft) to 2 metres (7 ft) close to the point where the Tanzilla River enters, a spot known to kayakers as the "Tanzilla Slot".

In 1980, BC Hydro began to study the feasibility of building a five-dam project in the Grand Canyon, but the plan was vehemently opposed by conservation and indigenous groups and led to a long struggle over the fate of the river. The Stikine River Provincial Park (formerly the Stikine River Provincial Recreation Area) was created in 2001, at 257,177 ha in size, to protect this stretch of the river.

...
Wikipedia