British Columbia Highway 5

Highway 5 is a major highway that runs from Hope in the south, to Tete Jaune Cache in the north. It connects the southern Trans-Canada Highway route with the northern Yellowhead Highway route, providing the shortest way to get to Edmonton from Vancouver, or vice versa. The southern section of Highway 5 (south of Kamloops) is known as the Coquihalla Highway. The northern section (North of Kamloops) is known as the Southern Yellowhead Highway. The Coquihalla section was tolled until September 26, 2008.

Highway 5 in its entirety is 524km long. The Coquihalla section is 186km long, while the Southern Yellowhead section is 338km long.

Route Details
The highway starts just east of Hope, British Columbia at its junction with Highway 3. It travels north through 5 interchanges to the Great Bear Snow Shed. North of here, after passing through the Coquihalla Pass, Highway 5 reaches the location of the old toll booth. The coquihalla was the only toll road in British Columbia. It charged $10 per vehicle. The toll booth is no longer there, but there is a rest area there.

The highway continues from here to a junction with Highways 5A and 97C in Merritt.

The coqhihalla continues through 3 more interchanges, and the Clapperton Creek Summit, to a junction with Highways 1 and 97 in Kamloops. The three highways travel together for about 5km. Highway 5 then seperates, and heads north as the Southern Yellowhead Highway.

From Kamloops, Highway 5 heads north to Raleigh and Heffley Creek, where there is an exit that leads to Sun Peaks Ski Resort.

Highway 5 then follows the North Thompson River through Barriere, British Columbia to a junction with Highway 24 in Little Fort. North of Little Fort, the highway arrives in Clearwater, where it turns northeast. It travels in this direction through Vavenby and Blue River, where it starts going north again. It proceeds in this direction through the Columbia Mountains and the community of Valemount, before finally arriving in Tete Jaune Cache, where it ends at an interchange with Highway 16.