Chefprefers BLOG

Have you ever visited a town so determined to relive the glory days that it built a statue to make sure nobody forgot?

Back in 1982, a movie introduced audiences to a drifter who wandered into a small town near Seattle, only to discover that the local sheriff had little patience for strangers. After picking up the hitchhiker, the sheriff drove him to the edge of town and politely, or perhaps not so politely, said, “Thanks for coming.”

What followed was one of the most successful action trilogies of its era.

Younger readers may not immediately recognize the film. The same actor had already become famous years earlier by portraying an unknown boxer who fought his way to a world championship. If you still have not guessed, head to the small town of Hope at the entrance to the Fraser River Valley and you will find a statue of the man himself, Sylvester Stallone.

Every so often, the town celebrates the movie that put it on the map. Much of the film was shot there, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s visitors arrived hoping to channel their inner Rambo. Today, traces of that era remain. The statues still stand, the signs are beginning to show their age, and some of the old attractions have faded into history.

The Blue Moose Coffee House remains one of the better stops, complete with a few reminders of the town’s action movie past.

Hope seems to have accepted that both the Rambo craze and its star have moved on, but it still enjoys the connection.

A short drive away is another attraction that has aged far more gracefully: the Othello Tunnels.

Built in 1916, these engineering marvels carved a path through the steep walls of the Coquihalla Canyon during the height of British Columbia’s mining and railway boom. Workers blasted their way through solid rock, sending tons of rubble into the river below. Massive bridges connected the tunnels, creating a route that must have looked equal parts ambitious and terrifying.

Standing above the roaring whitewater today, it is easy to wonder whether the engineers were visionaries, daredevils, or simply people who had never heard the phrase “workplace safety.” Fortunately for modern visitors, the experience is much less hazardous. Instead of dodging trains and falling rocks, you can enjoy a peaceful walk through cool, dark tunnels while the river thunders beneath you.

Some tourist attractions survive on movie nostalgia. Others survive because they are genuinely impressive. The Othello Tunnels manage to do both, reminding visitors that the most memorable journeys often pass through a little history, a little adventure, and a surprisingly large amount of rock.