Water and spectacular mountain scenery.

The Columbia Valley, a collection of towns, villages and hamlets located at the headwaters of the Columbia and Kootenay rivers has an abundance of both.
The Kootenay River originates in Kootenay National Park, high in the Rocky Mountains, fed by dozens of creeks and several rivers, and rolls south past Canal Flats.

Canal Flats is a unique location because the Kootenay and Columbia Lake, the headwaters of the Columbia River, come within one kilometre (km) of meeting one another before heading off in opposite directions.

The Kootenay rolls south-southwest and the Columbia punches northward more than 200 km before bending southward and then angling its way west to the Pacific Ocean at Astoria, Ore., 2,000 km (1,200 miles) from its point of origin. Along with countless mountain fishing lakes, the valley boasts two of the finest recreation lakes, Windermere and Columbia, in southeastern British Columbia.

The lakes, natural beauty of the area and skiing in winter, as well as the valley’s close proximity to the City of Calgary and arid southern Alberta, are the reasons the area is now one of the most popular vacation spots in Canada. The Upper Columbia Valley is also one of the fastest growing regions in British Columbia, Canada’s warmest and westernmost province.

Great places always have interesting histories and the valley’s is as colourful as its residents. The rivers and the former great Pacific salmon spawning runs, which ended when the dams were built, provided local First Nations people with great quantities of food, so people have called the valley home for thousands of years. The rivers also brought Europeans to the region, beginning with legendary fur trader and explorer David Thompson in 1807.

Thompson established a small settlement near Invermere and explored the Columbia and Kootenay valleys, searching for a route to the Pacific Ocean. He also trapped large amounts of beaver and other pelts, which he transported back to Thunder Bay, Ont. before returning to the area nestled between the sawtoothed back range of the Rocky Mountains and the Purcell Mountains. Thompson was the first white man to realize the wealth contained within the large, lush Columbia River Wetlands. A fertile wintering ground for elk, deer, moose and many other creatures, the wetlands span over 180 km and are the longest continuous series of wetlands remaining on the continent.

Each year, during the first week of May, valley residents celebrate the return of more than 250 species of birds during the Wings Over the Rockies Bird Festival. If you’re a birdwatcher, you  will have your hands full in this prime spot to enjoy the world’s second fastest growing recreational activity (birdwatching).

The valley is also a great home to the world’s fastest growing recreational activity — golf. The valley has become known as Canada’s Palm Springs as it boasts seven 18-hole courses and five nine-hole courses, with more are on the way.


An hour in either direction of Invermere takes you to Kimberley or Golden, also home to excellent courses. The communities of Invermere, Radium Hot Springs, Fairmont Hot Springs, Windermere, Panorama Mountain Village, Brisco, Spillimacheen, Edgewater and Canal Flats provide services and amenities for visitors.

Invermere is the market centre of the area, which has a year-round population of 9,000. Population figures double and triple during the busier summer months as seasonal homeowners return to this mountain valley paradise.

 

As the sign in Radium Hot Springs says:
“The mountains shall bring peace to the people.”