of Prince George and continuing southeastward to the town of Valemount is known as the Robson Valley, named after Mount Robson which overlooks its southern end. Valemount is the Westerly portal to the Yellowhead Pass. From Valemount and Canoe Southeastward to the eastern egress of Rogers Pass at Donald, BC just north of the town of Golden the Trench cradles the waters of Kinbasket Lake the reservoir created by Mica Dam; this region before the reservoir was part of the route of the interprovincial highway, once known as the Big Bend Highway, prior to the 1960s opening of the Roger's Pass section of the Trans-Canada. The Trench from Golden extending SE to the headwaters of the Columbia River at Columbia Lake is known as the Columbia Valley. Golden is the westerly portal to the Kicking Horse Pass on Highway #1 eastbound to Alberta. The southernmost Canadian part of the Trench is the core of a region known as the East Kootenay, comprising the upper of the two Canadian portions of the valley of the Kootenay River. Here, near Cranbrook, British Columbia, the Trench is much wider than to the northwest, forming more of a broad basin than the U-shaped valley which typifies most of the Trench elsewhere from Columbia Lake northwards to the Liard. This segment bifurcates near Wasa 100 km north of the US border. The off-shooting western fork contains the City of Cranbrook affords access to the nearby City of Kimberley. Elko is the westerly portal to the Crowsnest Pass on Highway 3 eastbound to Alberta. The southward transborder extension of the Trench into Montana is the primary containment for Lake Koocanusa, a Kootenay River reservoir created by the Libby Dam near Libby, Montana. Culture and economy The large valley and tributaries have always offered an economy based on ranching and logging. This has been supplemented by fortuitous locations of several mines - often in side valleys and producing lead, zinc, coal and gypsum. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) also constructed a spur line which extends northward up the southern Trench between Cranbrook and Golden. This serves to interconnect the southerly rail route of the Crowsnest Pass to the CPR mainline through Rogers Pass. Today it carries Crowsnest coal to Tsawwassen for export. A southerly rail-link through Yahk enables freight shipments into Idaho and the Western US. Tourism has become an active force in the economy. The Southern