GEOTOUR GUIDE - City of Kamloops

Figure 32. (Upper left) A “sinkhole
tunnel”or cave in silts that connects to a
sinkhole. The photo is taken from inside
the cave looking out. (Photo courtesy of
R. Buchanan and B. Gerath). (Upper
right) Cracks in a silt bluff are the
pathways for water. (Photo by R.Turner)
Over time, the flowing water will
enlarge the cracks into caves, causing the
surface above to collapse into a sink hole.
(Lower left) A sink hole on a silt bluff
along Highland Road near Valleyview.
(Photo by R.Turner).
hoW a sinKhole forms
WorKinG WiThin naTure’s rules
Every community has to work with its unique local geology and geography which include natural assets and liabilities. Understanding
these rules of nature and working with them, not against them, is essential to good land use planning. But learning nature’s rules can
be costly. For example, the river plains were some of the first lands settled in Kamloops. Then the giant flood of 1894 reminded us that
floodplains will flood (see Stop 6). Later on, development extended onto the silt benches, only to discover that these lands are prone
to sink holes that can damage a building. More recently, volcanic clay soils on some slopes in the Aberdeen area have shifted and
damaged some homes. Learning how the land works is an ongoing and sometimes surprising process, and requires the expertise and
advice of geologists, geotechnical engineers, environmental technicians, geographers, and others. As historian Will Durant noted
“Civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice.”
How to get to tHe Kamloops biKe ranCH. Drive east on Highway 1 from the City Centre to Highland
Road in Valleyview. Turn right (south). Highland Road rises through the benchlands along a gully. Pass the turnoff to the
Valleyview arena (originally the Valleyview pool until the foundation settled and caused the pool leaked). Highland Road
rises above the benchlands to Juniper Park at Qu’appelle Boulevard. Park at Juniper Park and walk north along the Quick
Draw bike trail to a grassy bench with a panoramic view of the South Thompson River valley.
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