British Columbia has always had more cars for the size of its population than any other province. However, in 1900, it was estimated that there were only 1,000 miles of roads and trails in the province. BC’s rough terrain made it hard and expensive to build roads and highways. In 1927, the coast was linked to the interior when the Fraser Canyon Highway opened. This highway followed sections of the old Cariboo gold rush trail. People in the Okanagan wanted a faster route to the coast than the long drive to Kamloops and Cache Creek and then down the Fraser Canyon to Hope. So in 1949 the Hope-Princeton Highway was opened. It followed parts of the old Dewdney Trail along the Skagit and Similkameen Rivers, with a new loop through Manning Park. It cost nearly $3 million dollars to build. Because of the difficult terrain, some areas of the road cost $100,000 per mile (over $62,000 per kilometre).