- This article is for the valley and rural community near Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada. For the city in California see Fountain Valley, California.
Fountain Valley, officially named
Three Lake Valley and also known as the
Fountain Lakes Valley, is a
valley and rural community located on the east flank of Fountain Ridge, just east of the town of
Lillooet, British Columbia,
Canada and immediately south of the
Indian Reserve community of
Fountain. The valley is historically significant as part of the
River Trail, which ran up the length of the
Fraser River from
Yale to Big Bar and beyond, diverging at various points to connect to trails farther east and with the
Old Cariboo Road at Fountain, then known as the Upper Fountains and an important junction and staging-ground for freight wagons and travellers bound northwards to the
Cariboo goldfields. The trail through the valley, which developed into a wagon road whose roadgrade is largely used by today's road through the valley, climbs a steep grade from its southern end, near
Fountainview Farms on the Fraser, and descends relatively gently towards Fountain. The three lakes in the valley, which give it its official name, are Cinquefoil Lake, Kwotlenemo Lake (aka Fountain Lake), and Chilhil Lake, the three of them collectively being known as the
Fountain Lakes. All three are noted for their fly-fishing and are regularly stocked by the provincial wildlife service. There are many recreational dwellings and small ranches forming a community in the valley, which is something of a rural "suburb" of Lillooet.