Eagle Pass is a mountain pass

Mountain pass

A mountain pass is a route through a mountain range or over a ridge. If following the lowest possible route, a pass is locally the highest point on that route...

 through the Gold Range

Gold Range

The Gold Range is a subrange of the Monashee Mountains in the southern British Columbia Interior. Originally a term used to describe all of the Monashees between the Arrow Lakes and the Okanagan, the term today only applies to a narrow stretch of the Monashee Mountains' eastern flank adjoining...

 of the Monashee Mountains

Monashee Mountains

The Monashee Mountains are a mountain range mostly in British Columbia, Canada, extending into the U.S. state of Washington. They stretch from north to south and from east to west. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains...

 in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It divides the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 from that of the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 (via the Shuswap Lakes and the Thompson River

Thompson River

The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson...

).

Eagle Pass was chosen as the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

, and later the Trans-Canada Highway

Trans-Canada Highway

The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...

, over the Monashees; westbound traffic is continually downhill from here to the Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast. The line over the Eagle Pass was the last section of the CPR to be completed; the last spike was driven at a location known as Craigellachie

Craigellachie, British Columbia

Craigellachie is a locality in British Columbia, located several kilometres to the west of the Eagle Pass summit between Sicamous and Revelstoke...

 in 1885.

The pass was discovered by Walter Moberly

Walter Moberly (engineer)

Walter Moberly was a civil engineer and surveyor who played a large role in the early exploration and development of British Columbia, Canada, including discovering Eagle Pass, now used by the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Trans-Canada Highway.He was born in Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire, England...

 in his role as Assistant Surveyor General of British Columbia in 1865.

The nearest city to Eagle Pass is Revelstoke

Revelstoke, British Columbia

Revelstoke is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam and near its confluence with the Illecillewaet River...

, 20 km. to the east.