The Slocan Valley Rail Trail is a multi-use recreational

rail trail A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

in the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

region of southeastern

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, ...

Overview

The trail uses the former

Columbia and Kootenay Railway The Columbia and Kootenay Railway (C&KR) was a historic railway operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia. This route, beside the unnavigable Kootenay River, linked Nelson, British Columbia, Nel ...

rail corridor along the section of the

Slocan Valley The Slocan Valley is a valley in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Geographical boundaries The Slocan Valley is about long, but its width is undefined. The Valhalla Range provides the steep western boundary and the Sloca ...

between

South Slocan South Slocan is an unincorporated community in rural British Columbia with a population of approximately 100 people, many of whom are followers of the Doukhobors religion. It is located on the northwest shore of the Kootenay River in the West Kooten ...

and Slocan that the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

(CP) abandoned in 1994. Subsequently, CP removed the rails and ties, and dismantled the bridges. The trail is owned by the government of BC and managed by the Slocan Valley Heritage Trail Society (SVHTS).

Timeline

1993: CP ran last freight train on September 14.
1994: The SVHTS was formed. CP applied to abandon line.
1999: CP gifted the right-of-way to the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the A ...

(TCT).
2000: TCT gave the property to the BC government.
2002: SVHTS signed a 10-year agreement to manage rail trail.
2003: SICEA grant received.
2005 Construction of three new bridges, complete grading and brushing, extensive resurfacing and construction of trailheads.
2007: Trail opened.
2012: Became official TCT spur.
2017: South Slocan–Crescent Valley becomes paved greenway.

Sections

South Slocan box culvert

In 1962, southwest of South Slocan, a long two-lane highway bridge, connecting embankment approaches, replaced a

railway crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

. Five decades later, that bridge over the rail trail needed costly structural rehabilitation. In 2017, an embankment fill, with a long concrete box culvert under the highway for cyclists and pedestrians, replaced the bridge. Local artist Peter Vogelaar and volunteers painted a mural along the length of the tunnel detailing the valley history.

References

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