Cinnamon Ridge Hoodoos

West of the Kamloops Airport on Tranquille Road

Kamloops is volcano country! Or, to be more accurate, it is ancient volcano country.

The Coquihalla Highway (Highway 5) from Kamloops to Merritt cuts through green-grey volcanic rocks that are about 200 million year old. Dufferin Hill, Cinnamon Ridge and the plateau to the northwest and west to Cache Creek, including the area of the McAbee fossil beds, are all volcanic rocks that erupted about 50 million years ago.

Wells Gray Provincial Park to the north protects some remarkable volcanoes that formed during the last several million years and that may erupt again. The most interesting place to look at volcanic rocks in the immediate Kamloops area is just west of the airport.

A variety of interesting volcanic features are exposed on the slopes of Cinnamon Ridge and one of its canyons. The narrow slot-like character of the canyon and hoodoo spires that rise above the canyon are fascinating features of the hike.