Western Forest Products harbor in Muchalat Inlet 3

Gold River is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

municipality located close to the geographic centre of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, Canada. In terms of the Island's human geography it is considered to be part of the "North Island", even though it technically is on the Island's west coast.

History

Taking advantage of its deep water and abundant forests, Gold River developed in 1967 as a prototypical

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

and

pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce Pulp (paper), pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as ...

community. Gold River quickly sprang into prosperity and established excellent community facilities. When shifting world markets brought the mill closure in 1998, many of Gold River's inhabitants were forced to relocate. Since then, the village has attempted to capitalize on its idealistic setting among picturesque

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wor ...

, and

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s to develop

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

and

sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishin ...

as its main economic supports. Currently, Gold River serves as a base for such famous activities as the Nootka Island trek, hiking the Elk Lake trail and mountain climbing Golden Hinde (Vancouver Island's highest peak), Crest Creek climbing crags, MV Uchuck III, and the Great Walk. Gold River also serves as a historic point, being the closest village to the famous Yuquot, or "Friendly Cove", where British explorer Captain James Cook first set ashore. There Cook met the Mowachaht native band's chief, Chief Maquinna.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, Gold River had a population of 1,246 living in 610 of its 692 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,212. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Luna, the orca

In 2001, a two-year-old male

orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

, later named ''Luna'', was seen in Nootka Sound alone as far inland as the

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

at Gold River. Presumed to be an

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

separated from his pod, Luna became a local and international celebrity by his playful and curious behavior with lumber

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

s and recreational watercraft on Nootka Sound, and with people, including young children, on the Gold River dock. The popularity of Luna made Gold River an international attraction from early 2002 through March 2006 when Luna was killed in an accidental collision with a tugboat propeller.

Climate

Gold River has a Marine west coast climate (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Cfb''). With warm dry summers and mild rainy winters, during the winter constant Low Pressure Systems moving off of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

causes winter to be the wettest season. Most precipitation falls as rain year round but snow is not uncommon in the winter months averaging but does not usually stay long. Summers are warm with an average summer temperate of in July, although afternoon shade temperatures exceeding are not uncommon in summer. This is due to the community being located inland surrounded by mountains, causing Adiabatic heating to occur giving Gold River its own microclimate. The summer months are also the driest of the year with only of rain in July compared to in November. The average rainfall all year is making the west coast of

the wettest place in Canada. The record high recorded for the village was recorded on July 28, 2009. That record high, however, was shattered during the

2021 Western North America heat wave The 2021 Western North America heat wave was an extreme heat wave that affected much of Western North America from late June through mid-July 2021. Rapid attribution analysis found this was a 1000-year weather event, made 150 times more likely ...

. A weather station at Ray Watkins Elementary school recorded a new record high of on June 27, which was blown away the next day when the temperature reached on June 28 which is the current record as it stands for the village. The record low was recorded on January 28, 1980.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in British Columbia Northern Vancouver Island Populated places in the Strathcona Regional District Nootka Sound region Logging communities in Canada