Hope sits where the Fraser Valley narrows into the Coast Mountains, about 150 kilometres east of Vancouver. It is the junction where Highway 1 (the Trans-Canada) meets Highways 3 and 5, making it a natural stopping point for travellers heading east into the Rockies or south toward Manning Provincial Park.
The town gained minor fame as the filming location for First Blood — the Rambo statue on the main street is a popular photo stop. But the real appeal is the setting: the Coquihalla and Fraser rivers converge here, surrounded by steep, forested mountains. The Othello Tunnels in nearby Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park are a short hike through old railway tunnels blasted through sheer granite walls above the river.
Hope has good fishing for salmon and sturgeon, river rafting on the Fraser, and hiking trails into the surrounding wilderness. It is a small, quiet place — essentially a crossroads town — but a pleasant one.