Hope is where the Fraser River leaves the mountains. Upstream, the river roars through the narrow, steep-walled Fraser Canyon; downstream, it widens and slows across the flat, fertile valley towards Vancouver. The town sits at the junction, surrounded by forested peaks, and it has always been a crossroads: the Trans-Canada Highway heads north through the canyon, the Coquihalla Highway climbs north-east over the mountains to the interior, and the Crowsnest Highway runs east through Manning Park towards the Okanagan.
Film fans may recognise the town: in 1982, Hope stood in for the fictional town in the first Rambo film, First Blood, and the local tourist office will happily point you to the filming locations. The town is also known for its chainsaw carvings, wooden sculptures scattered through the streets. Just outside town, the Othello Tunnels, a series of old railway tunnels blasted through the granite of the Coquihalla Canyon for the Kettle Valley Railway, are now a walking trail, with the river rushing through the gorge beneath wooden bridges. It is one of the most impressive short walks in the province.
East of town on Highway 3, a vast scar on the mountainside marks the Hope Slide of 1965, one of the largest landslides in Canadian history, which buried the highway under tens of metres of rock. A viewpoint explains what happened. North of town, the Fraser Canyon road follows the river through tunnels and along cliffs, with the famous Hell's Gate, where the river squeezes through a narrow gap, about an hour away.
Hope has fuel, restaurants and motels, and it is the last large settlement before the mountain highways, so top up here without fail. The weather can change dramatically here. The coastal mountains catch a lot of rain, and the passes to the east can have snow from autumn to spring. Summer is the best time to ride, but even then, carry warm clothing for the higher roads, and check conditions before setting out on the Coquihalla or Highway 3.