What makes a ferry stop for lunch? At Little Fort, a river-powered boat run under a provincial highway contract that keeps working hours: the province lists the crossing as on demand from 07:00 to noon and 13:00 to 18:20, free, five minutes across the North Thompson. DriveBC showed no incident here on 2 October 2026.
Service hours on the provincial Little Fort page (last updated 21 August 2026) and the DriveBC ferry feed; no season or closing date published; checked 2 October 2026 BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit – Little Fort Reaction Ferry · 2026-10-02
The answer is in the boat itself. Little Fort is a reaction ferry, one of five in British Columbia, with Big Bar, Lytton, McLure and Usk. It has no engine to drive it across: as Wikipedia describes it, the ferry hangs from a cable strung between towers on the two banks, and the crew angle the pontoons into the current so the river's own push carries the deck from one side to the other.
Those five crossings are run under the province's highway maintenance contracts, here by Argo Road Maintenance Inc., and they keep working hours rather than round-the-clock service. At Little Fort that means a morning window from 07:00, a one-hour break at noon, and an afternoon window ending with the 18:20 trip.
Everything about Little Fort is on a modest scale: two vehicles or one combination up to 12 metres, twelve people including drivers, and a 9,000 kg weight limit, according to the ministry's page.
The province charges nothing to ride any inland ferry in BC, and the five small reaction ferries are part of the province's highway maintenance contracts rather than separate ferry businesses. At Little Fort there is no ticket, no booth and nothing to pay, for a car, a bike or someone on foot.
| Car, truck or RV with everyone aboard | Free |
| Foot passenger or cyclist | Free |
BC inland ferries page, last updated 31 July 2026 BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit – Inland Ferries · 2026-10-02
The crossing is on the North Thompson River at Little Fort, which the province places 93 km north of Kamloops on Highway 5; Clearwater is further up the same highway. The ramp on the highway side is a short turn off the main road at the Highway 24 junction, and the trip itself takes about five minutes.
Little Fort sits where Highway 24 leaves Highway 5, and the ferry ramp is at the bottom of Ferry Road on the same west bank as the highway. Pull up at the landing and wait for the boat; with room for only two cars, the third vehicle in line waits for the next round trip.
The far landing faces the village from across the river. If you cross over in the afternoon, be back at this ramp in time for the 18:20 last trip, because the boat does not come over again until 07:00 the next morning.
Its rating is 9,000 kg gross vehicle weight. Loaded trucks and heavy farm equipment may be over the limit.
Two ordinary vehicles fit, or a single vehicle-and-trailer combination no longer than 12 metres. A truck with a long camper trailer may not qualify.
The passenger limit counts the drivers, so two full minivans can be too many for one crossing.
There is no service for the hour after midday. Arriving at 11:55 is cutting it fine.
Closures, interruptions and delays on the inland ferries are posted on DriveBC. The contractor's office answers on 1-800-661-2025.
The place name is older than the road. Wikipedia's history of the community says that in 1850 the man in charge of Fort Kamloops set up a small Hudson's Bay Company post on the east shore and called it Little Fort to tell it apart from the main fort. When the Canadian Northern Railway reached the east bank in 1913, the ferry gave settlers on the west side a way to reach the station.
Little Fort is one of several free crossings in the BC interior run under contract to the same ministry. The Adams Lake cable ferry east of Kamloops works almost around the clock under a different contractor, and the Harrop cable ferry on Kootenay Lake never stops at all; both are cable ferries with far bigger decks than this one.
Yes. No fare is charged: the ministry's inland ferries page says none of the provincial inland routes cost anything to use.
18:20. The afternoon window opens at 13:00 and the printed provincial guide marks 18:20 as the last trip.
That hour is outside the published service windows. The ferry runs on demand from 07:00 to 12:00 and from 13:00 to 18:20.
One vehicle-and-trailer combination is allowed per trip, provided it does not exceed 12 metres and the 9,000 kg gross weight rating.
The province publishes no closing date or freeze-up rule for Little Fort, unlike McLure on the same river. Check DriveBC before relying on it once ice forms.
It uses the current. The deck is tethered to an overhead cable across the river, and angling the pontoons lets the flow push it sideways from bank to bank.
Argo Road Maintenance Inc., the contractor, on 1-800-661-2025 or 250-374-6690.