Many historic and heritage sites in the Kootenay Rockies reflect the region’s railway and mining past.
Watch trains weave through mountains at Yoho National Park’s spiral tunnels. Enter a miner’s world at Kimberley's Underground Mining Railway or Rossland’s Le Roi Mine. Or head to Fort Steele Heritage Town, once a gold rush boomtown, to explore pioneer life. This region also has ghost towns full of historic treasures, like Sandon or 3 Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town.
In charming Nelson, check out restored Victorian heritage buildings. Or visit Kaslo to board the SS Moyie, the world’s oldest intact passenger sternwheeler. See 505-million-year-old fossils at Burgess Shale in the Canadian Rockies.
Other sites showcase Aboriginal culture and other cultures. Discover Aboriginal art and history at the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre at St. Eugene resort or learn about Russian immigrant life at Castlegar’s Doukhobor Discovery Centre.
Ghost Towns and Mining Sites
Fort Steele Heritage Town (near Cranbrook) is among BC’s premier historic sites and features more than 60 buildings. Dive into late 1800s life: ride a steam train or horse-drawn wagon, pan for gold, and savour warm, wood-fired bread. There’s a great view of the Canadian Rockies from the lookout tower.
At Kimberley’s Underground Mining Railway, ride an open railcar into the mountain while guides tell mining tales and demonstrate mining equipment. Rossland’s Le Roi gold mine also gives interesting insight into the subterranean world.
Prefer history that’s rougher around the edges? Visit Sandon near New Denver. Today, it’s a ghost town, but in the 1890s Sandon was the raucous “Monte Carlo of the North.” Check out rusty artifacts, plus a fleet of vintage Vancouver trolley buses.
Three Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town, just west of Revelstoke, has an impressive collection of historic buildings and artifacts. View displays depicting late 19th-century life, and photograph antique cars (including a white 1912 Model T) and steam engines.
There are other ghost towns worth visiting. Check out ex-gold mining centres like Fisherville and Bull River (Fort Steele), former lumber towns like Baynes Lake and Waldo (Fernie), the onetime final K&S Railway stop of Cody (New Denver and Kaslo), outdoor activity magnets like Retallack and Zwicky (Kaslo), the huge natural stone bridge at Brooklyn (Castlegar), and the ruined buildings at Wardner and Lumberton (Cranbrook).
Historic Railways
Today, the Trans-Canada Highway easily winds through the mountains – but it wasn’t always this simple. Rogers Pass, a railway route through the Selkirk Mountains, helped link BC to the rest of Canada. The Rogers Pass Discovery Centre in Glacier National Park tells this epic transportation tale. While hiking, view stone pillars, evidence of the old railway.
Yoho National Park’s spiral tunnels ingeniously solved a railway engineering problem in the early 1900s. These tunnels are still in use, and two viewpoints provide a chance to watch trains weave through the mountain.
Fossils in the Canadian Rockies
Join a regularly scheduled interpretive hike to see one of the world’s most significant fossil discoveries: the Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park. These fossilized remains of soft-bodied (and sometimes bizarre-looking) marine organisms are more than half a billion years old. Exquisitely preserved, the Burgess Shale was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Historic Buildings and Structures
The SS Moyie once plied the waters of Kootenay Lake. Today, it’s the world’s oldest intact passenger sternwheeler. The ship’s permanently berthed in Kaslo and features displays, artifacts and even sound effects for a realistic on-board experience.
Nelson has numerous restored Victorian-style buildings. More than 350 heritage buildings (both residential and commercial) boast intricate facades and decorative brickwork.
The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre in nearby New Denver is a National Historic Site, preserving the story of more than 20,000 Japanese-Canadians who were interned in camps during World War II. View internment camp buildings, artifacts, interpretive displays and a serene Japanese garden.
In Castlegar, cross a suspension bridge to Zuckerberg Island Heritage Park and see a unique house built in the style of a Russian Orthodox chapel. Look for the unusual “stump woman” sculpture carved by the house’s creator.
Cultural Interpretive Centres
Castlegar’s Doukhobor Discovery Centre has over 1,000 artifacts illustrating the stories, customs and communal lifestyle of the Doukhobors, whose motto is “Toil and Peaceful Life.” Sample delicious traditional dishes at the bistro – especially the famous Doukhobor borscht.
The Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre, at St. Eugene Resort near Cranbrook, is housed in a 1910 Spanish colonial building, which operated for 60 years as a residential school for Aboriginal children. Today, the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre features historic Aboriginal photographs and artifacts, scale models of tradtional tipis, and a sturgeon-nosed canoe. The interpretive centre is open by appointment.
The Yaqan Nuki Heritage Centre (pronounced “yaka nookie”) in Creston explores the rich heritage of the Yaqan Nuki peoples, who lived in the area over 10,000 years ago, plus the cultural traditions of contemporary local First Nations. The heritage centre features Aboriginal artisans working onsite and the Legend Logos gift shop. Admission is free.
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