The Illecillewaet River’s current Box Canyon log jam is the upstream threat in the back of many people’s minds since the first logs snared up the river in 2014.
There’s a long history of jams at that point in the river, less than five kilometres upstream from where the Illecillewaet drains into the Columbia River, due to the narrowing of the rock face in Box Canyon. Growing over the course of a decade, the current blockage presents a number of problems for Revelstoke, from recreation to infrastructure concerns.
Box Canyon was at one point a whitewater rafting and kayaking spot with growing interest. Now the blockade forces paddlers to portage upstream and walk past, oftentimes along the railway line, putting rafters and Canadian Pacific Kansas City staff members at odds. Concerns over the threat of a sudden release of the Box Canyon log jam was voiced by the community when a traffic accident closed down the Fourth Street bridge, the only access point connecting Queen Victoria hospital, the Arrow Heights neighbourhood, Revelstoke Airport and Revelstoke Mountain Resort to the rest of the city.
Steve Black, City of Revelstoke’s director of engineering and public works has kept his eye on the log jam since joining the city in late 2019. He’s familiar with the scope of the blockage and the ways different debris have shifted, sun bleached logs pushed back underwater by freshly washed up pieces.
“This was one of the first things that came to my attention when I took the position,” Black said.
But with provincial waterway regulations and a majority of the debris coming from federal Crown land, finding a solution isn’t entirely cut and dry.
Referring to the roughly 50 metres by four metres of new material collected this past year as, “that small bit there,” Black illustrated just how large the blockage is. Pointing to the front of the jam, which has crept up the Illecillewaet over 200 metres in the last four years, Black confirmed that the back of the blockage has not retreated that same amount, stretching the field of logs out over the river for a shocking length.
The Box Canyon log jam filmed in 2020. Video via Koby Trinker/YouTube
The threat of a natural solution
There is one force of nature helping things along even if in the slightest: rotting logs that finally break free from the back of the Box Canyon log jam and travel downstream.
“It gets thinner in the back, for sure. Similar to some hairlines,” Black joked.
The rot and release of roughly 200 logs a day for the next three to four years with no major addition of debris upstream would be a natural best case scenario to clear the block. But that solution is dependent on many variables with no way to safely aid the release of rotting logs, along with the threat of river pressure eventually breaking through the remaining blockage.
The more probable natural solution to the Box Canyon log jam instead looks like a worst case scenario, with a major flooding event more likely in Revelstoke’s future than the slow and steady release.
If excessive water flow raises the river high enough, it could bring the blockage up and over the narrowing rockface, sending decades of debris through Revelstoke’s Illecillewaet River dike system.
“All that pushes through, and then you end up with a lot of the debris on top of the water and tumbling at high speeds, most probably impacting the Fourth Street bridge,” Black said.
A report on potential flood risks in Revelstoke was conducted in 2022, supported by the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR) through a $88,500 Community Emergency Preparedness Fund. In it, WSP Canada Inc. found the current dike system would withstand typical major flooding events, but a substantial release from the Box Canyon log jam could jeopardize that protection. While the dikes can handle slow releases such as those caused by log rot, there are too many variables to prepare for every situation.
“We’ve done a lot of really good work here on this system,” Black said. “But the consequences we don’t quite understand, because we don’t know how this is going to break.”
READ MORE: Report studies long-term Illecillewaet River flooding potential in Revelstoke
Box Canyon log jam a hot potato of responsibility
Instead, Black and city staff are exploring the option of manually clearing out the block piece-by-piece, yarding the freed logs to be picked up by businesses interested in the lumber or releasing the freed logs to float down into the Columbia River.
“It would be very expensive and very challenging,” Black said bluntly, explaining the location of the log jam within city limits gives other levels of government the opportunity to put the onus for a solution back on Revelstoke.
City staff and council have argued the municipality shouldn’t be entirely responsible for financially dealing with the blockade, with Evan Parliament stating at a Nov. 12, 2024 council meeting that the provincial government is responsible for waterways, and any major action the city takes to deal with the Box Canyon log jam would need approval from the province.
“If you want to do work on the river you need to apply for Section 11,” he explained.
The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship received a Section 11 application from the City of Revelstoke on June 17, 2025 requesting to start work in and around the Illecillewaet River.
“As the application relates to public safety, it is being prioritized,” Lee Toop, public affairs officer for the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship said in a written statement to Revelstoke Mountaineer.
“The review is proceeding on an expedited timeline to enable the scheduled works, while ensuring we deliver on key process steps such as technical review, agency referrals and consultation with First Nations.”
Previous conversations around what supports the city could access included asking at what point the federal government can step in to help.
“My understanding is that the Box Canyon log jam on the Illecillewaet River is a matter being worked out by the City of Revelstoke and Government of British Columbia,” Mel Arnold, MP for the Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies region and associate shadow minister for fisheries told Revelstoke Mountaineer in a written statement. “My office has not been contacted by any other level of government regarding this matter.”
Arnold acknowledged the log jam poses a risk and has been a point of concern for residents, City of Revelstoke’s staff and council and the provincial government. As the federal representative for Revelstoke and the area, Arnold said he’s ready to speak on behalf of city and provincial governments with federal departments if ever requested.
Whether or not Revelstoke receives major provincial and federal support for the current blockage, multiple stakeholders will need to work together on a more permanent solution, Black explained.
“It’s not a one-time deal, this is going to occur over and over again because of the box canyon here and the constraint in the rocks.”
One long-term solution could involve developing a debris basin further upstream that collects the logs before the river narrows, allowing them to be pulled out with logging equipment on a regular basis. But Black noted that solution would also threaten current fish migration patterns up and down the Illecillewaet and would need guidance and support from other levels of government.
“We don’t want to damage the environment, and we don’t want the environment to damage any of the city infrastructure,” Black said. “We want to do this with the support of the feds. Every year, every 10 years we’re going to have to do this again and again until there is a permanent solution, which is going to require annual maintenance and annual expenditures that the city can’t solely take on.”
While Black doesn’t think multiple calls from constituents to Arnold and Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Scott MicInnis will help push things along any faster, he does encourage residents to keep tabs on the Box Canyon log jam with city council and staff.
“Keep connected with the city. Know that this is something we aren’t playing with. We are very focused on this.”
Revelstoke Mountaineer reached out to B.C.’s Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and Columbia River-Revelstoke MLA Scott MicInnis for comment. Neither were able to respond by publication.
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