Geo Tours of Kamloops, British Columbia

OVERLANDERS PARK & THE THOMPSON RIVER | A Tale of Two Rivers

Overlanders Park is located on the north side of the Overlanders Bridge . The park borders a broad sand and gravel bar that is exposed during autumn and winter periods of low water on the Thompson Rivers. This bar is a great place to see the confluence of the two rivers, and to look at the sand and gravel that these rivers are moving downstream.

 

Rivers are conveyor belts, moving silt, sand, and gravel eroded from upstream lands. The final resting place of the sand and gravel is the floor of Kamloops Lake . Some fine clay floats through Kamloops Lake and flows into the Thompson River west of Savona, to continue its downstream journey to the Pacific Ocean at Richmond .

The two major tributaries of the Thompson River, the North and South Thompson rivers, meet at Kamloops . But in spite of their similar names, they are very different rivers! From spring to early fall, the North Thompson River is a cold and an opaque grey colour, while the South Thompson is warmer and a clear blue-green colour. What’s going on? As a geographer would tell you – look upstream in each river basin for clues.

 

North and South Thompson Rivers Headwaters

Tracing the North and South Thompson Rivers back to their headwaters reveals that both rivers drain the rugged Columbia Mountains and its many glaciers. Streams that flow from these glaciers are very muddy because they carry a load of glacial silt (finely ground rock). Both the North and South Thompson drainages flow through many large lakes. In this way, both river systems are similar.

 
NORTH THOMPSON RIVER: The lakes of the North Thompson River occur only in the Wells Gray Park area, drained by the Clearwater River . Note the name “Clearwater River”. Rivers that flow into lakes enter a giant settling pond – mud and silt carried along by energetic river flow settles in the still water to the lake bottom. However, a large part of the North Thompson River does not flow through large lakes and therefore it carries the mud and silt eroded from mountain glaciers all the way to Kamloops Lake .

 

SOUTH THOMPSON RIVER: In contrast, the headwater streams of the South Thompson River all flow into the giant Shuswap Lake system, filtering their waters. The South Thompson River flows out of Shuswap Lake as clear and warm as the Shuswap lakes. The only way for mud to get into the South Thompson River is through tributaries that enter the river downstream from Shuswap Lake . Chase Creek is one such stream and floods on Chase Creek can occasionally create muddy water in the South Thompson River . Such muddy water is important to Kamloops because the City draws its domestic water from the South Thompson River , and for many years muddy water (turbidity) created problems for water treatment.

 

How to get to Overlanders Park

Cross the Overlanders Bridge to the North Shore of Kamloops from the Victoria Street and the City Centre. Turn right on Forth Avenue and then again on Schubert Drive. At the end of Schubert, turn right on Beach Avenue and then left on Ketchener Crescent. There is a parking lot at the park. Cross to the Rivers Walk trail along the dyke above the river bank. Look for stairs to the sand and gravel beach and bar below.


 

FREE Kamloops Geo Tour Guide for Download

Special acknowledgements to the City of Kamloops & Kamloops Exploration Group who put the Geo Tour Guide for Kamloops, British Columbia together.