Slocan Bluffs - Before and After

For sixty years, the stretch of Highway 6 along Slocan Lake between Slocan City and Enterprise Creek was one of the most precipitous portions of British Columbia’ primary highway system. The narrow, twisting road, often without barriers and much of it one lane, was carved out of the cliffside along the Cape Horn Bluffs. Running into large logging, chip, and tanker trucks heading in the opposite direction often forced drivers to make heart-stopping evasive manoeuvres (or worse). After decades of rock slides, accidents, and near-misses, the highway was finally upgraded to 2 and 3 lanes over the course of 1989. These days, the most dangerous thing about the bluffs is being distracted by the gorgeous scenery.
In Part 1, recorded during the mid-to-late 1980s, Dave McMillan takes us through the twists and turns of the narrow highway high above Slocan Lake, where, sure enough, he encounters an aforementioned tanker truck on the single-lane portion of road (thankfully, it’s right as he’s approaching a pullout).
In Part 2, recorded 10 March 1992, Milton Parent takes us along the brand-new Highway 6. Tens of millions of dollars later, the road has been widened considerably, with ample passing lanes and many kilometres of new barriers. The stark, barren cliffs are a testament to the amount of blasting done to complete the project.
Want to see more trips through time along BC’s highway system? Check out the Ministry of Transportation’s BC Road Trip Time Machine playlist, which features dozens of provincial highways captured as they were in 1966: • BC Road Trip Time Machine
Timestamps:
0:00 Before (late 1980s)
5:10 After (10 March 1992)
11:58 End