Credit for the trail has gone to Yale butcher Jonathan Reece who wanted to source his meat from a location closer than Oregon.

After convincing some other men to invest in land for farming in Chilliwack, he proceeded to cut a 50-mile-long trail through heavy forest with the help of a relative and a native local.

From Chilliwack, the road followed Reece's old trail through Rosedale and Bridal Falls, then northeasterly along the south shore of the Fraser River through Cheam View and Laidlaw to Hope and Yale.

[3] During the automobile era after the First World War, the road saw improvements and new alignments to efficiently move cars and trucks through the Fraser Valley.

After Sumas Lake was reclaimed and converted to farmland in 1925, the highway was re-routed off the old Yale Road route in a more direct alignment through the eastern Fraser Valley between Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

The road maintains much of its historic characteristics – winding sections, narrow pavement, avoidance of steep terrain, and usage as a route for local above ground telephone and electricity services.