Santa Rosa Ck (Grand Forks)

Site Description: The Santa Rosa Creek Recreation Site is located on the historic Dewdney Trail. In 1864 Edgar Dewdney blazed his trail from Christina Lake to the Columbia River, over the rugged Cascade Mountains. He was surveying a Canadian route from Hope to the gold fields of Wild Horse Creek. Much of his original trail became Highway 3. This portion of Dewdney's trail was abandoned in favour of a more northerly route for the highway, but has continued to serve the more adventuresome backroads travellers, and the logging and farming industries of the area. The Santa Rosa Recreation Site is located in a shady, cool, cedar grove adjacent to Santa Rosa Creek. It is an ideal base camp for exploring the original Dewdney Trail by foot or horse.

Driving Directions: From the junction of Highway 3B and 22, at the Le Roi Mine Museum in Rossland, travel 0.4 km south on Highway 22. Turn right onto the "Old Cascade Highway", across from the Rossland Motel. Follow this good 2 wheel drive gravel road up over Record Ridge and down into the Big Sheep Creek Valley. A bridge at 24.3 km will take you across Big Sheep Creek. Stay straight ahead on the "Santa Rosa Forest Service Road". It is 3.4 km to the recreation site. This section of the road is rougher, but still passable in a 2 wheel drive vehicle.