This trail is part of the historical native peoples ‘grease trail’. The Blackwater Trail (also known as the West Road River trail) was created by First Nations people (specifically the Carrier/Dakelh and Nuxalk nations) as a traditional trade route, commonly known as a “Grease Trail”.
While the trail ends at the confluence of the Fraser and Blackwater Rivers on the east end, it has multiple entry points from the westerly access side, starting at the Blackwater Road. The Carrier Grease Trail is the most northerly access trail and makes it way from the Blackwater road to the upper access trail of the West Road Historic Trail, following the upper ridge.
The southerly access points include the upper and lower Blackwater Trail entry points. The Carrier Grease Trail is a historic native trail used for centuries by local native peoples who traded goods with coastal First Nations in Bella Coola, specifically seeking the highly sought-after eulachon fish oil, thus the term ‘grease’ trail.
The West Road Historic Trail is the continuation of this ancient trail, which connects the Blackwater Road access point (leading west on the Alexander McKenzie heritage trail), Carrier Grease trail, with the Fraser River.
While Alexander Mackenzie never travelled the West Road Historic Trail, he noted it in his writings, as seen in one of the photos below.
This trail was reopened in 2026 by Darren Adams (over many years) with a lot of help from the Caledonia Ramblers as well as friends, and is connected to the Blackwater Canyon and Carrier Grease Trails.
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