Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The wild and rugged Kootenays region of British Columbia lies east of the Okanagan Valley
and south of the Trans-Canada Highway. It is bordered by the United States to the south
and Alberta to the east. Three north-to-south-trending mountain ranges—the Monashees,
Selkirks, and Purcells—run parallel to each other across the region, separated by lush green
valleys and narrow lakes up to 150 kilometers (93 miles) long. The snowcapped mountains
and forested valleys abound with wildlife, including large populations of deer, elk, moose,
black bears, and grizzly bears.
Europeans first entered the Kootenays in the late 1800s, searching for precious metals
such as gold, silver, lead, and zinc, all of which were found in large quantities. While many
of the boomtowns from this era have slipped into oblivion, others live on: Sandon is a ghost
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