Nestled along the southern edge of Columbia Lake is the full-service community of Canal Flats. The long, narrow stretch of land for which the community is named, was called McGillivray’s Portage by explorer/fur trader David Thompson. The Columbia River begins right here in Canal Flats.

The community features restaurants, a pub, hardware store, post office, various stores and a great nine-hole golf course (th’ Flats).

The Flats, as locals call it, also boasts a provincial park which serves as the perfect setting for an afternoon travelling break, with swimming, a boat launch and picnic area.

Canal Flats is a gateway to several backcountry parks, including Whiteswan, Top of the World and Premier Lake provincial parks, as well it is the entrance to the Kootenay River Road, which leads backcountry explorers into a vast Rocky Mountain wilderness, renowned for whitewater paddling, hunting, fishing and camping. It is also a gateway to Purcell Mountain wilderness areas.
At the end of the 19th Century, William Adolph Baillie-Grohman developed an idea to build a canal between Columbia Lake and the Kootenay River. The aim of the canal was to allow for the drainage of 48,000 acres of land in the Creston area, 240 km to the west, while opening up a north-south navigational system from Golden to Montana. The canal was completed in 1889 and only two boats ever traversed the canal which was equipped with a 100 ft. long and 30 ft. wide lock. The second craft, the North Star, which attempted to pass through in 1902, became stuck. The only way to free the boat was to burn the locks. The accompanying dam was dynamited. The remains of the canal can still be seen today.

The canal builder also owned the first store and post office in the community as well as the first steam sawmill in the valley, the start of the lumbering industry which has put Canal Flats on the map. Today, the community is primarily supported by the local mill, which is owned by Tembec Inc.

Distance to Invermere: 1/2 hour south