The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. It takes its name from the

Kootenay River The Kootenay River or Kootenai River is a major river of the Northwest Plateau in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributaries of the Columbia River, ...

, which in turn was named for the

Kutenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in so ...

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

people.

Boundaries

The Kootenays are more or less defined by the

Kootenay Land District Kootenay Land District is a cadastral survey subdivision of the province of British Columbia, Canada, created with rest of those on Mainland British Columbia via the Lands Act of the Colony of British Columbia in 1860. The British Columbia governme ...

, though some variation exists in terms of what areas are or are not a part. The strictest definition of the region is the

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

of the lower

from its re-entry into Canada near Creston, through to its confluence with the Columbia at Castlegar ''(illustrated by a, right)''. In most interpretations, however, the region also includes: * an area to the east which encompasses the upper drainage basin of the Kootenay River from its rise in the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

to its passage into the United States at

Newgate Newgate was one of the historic seven gates of the London Wall around the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. Newgate lay on the west side of the wall and the road issuing from it headed over the River Fleet to Mid ...

. This adds a region spanning from the

Purcell Mountains The Purcell Mountains are a mountain range in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. They are a subrange of the Columbia Mountains, which includes the Selkirk, Monashee, and Cariboo Mountains. They are located on the west side of the Rocky Mo ...

to the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

border, and includes

Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a ...

cities such as Cranbrook and

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

and the Elk Valley of the southern

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

, centred on Fernie. This region also includes part of the

Flathead River The Flathead River (, , ), in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Montana, originates in the Canadian Rockies to the north of Glacier National Park and flows southwest into Flathead Lake, then after a journey of , empties into the Cla ...

drainage basin. ''(illustrated by b)'' * an area to the southwest encompassing the Columbia's drainage from the Kootenay confluence south to the U.S. Border plus the

Salmo River The Salmo River is a tributary of the Pend Oreille River, Pend d'Oreille River in the West Kootenay region of the Regional District of Central Kootenay in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The river is ...

basin. This adds the communities of Rossland, Castlegar, Fruitvale and

Salmo ''Salmo'' is a genus of ray-finned fish from the subfamily Salmoninae of family (biology), family Salmonidae, and is part of the tribe (biology), tribe Salmonini along with the sister genera ''Salvelinus'' and ''Salvethymus''. Almost all ''Salmo ...

''(illustrated by c)'' Some or all of the following areas to the north, which drain into the Columbia River, are also commonly included in the Kootenays: * The

Arrow Lakes The Arrow Lakes in British Columbia, Canada, divided into Upper Arrow Lake and Lower Arrow Lake, are widenings of the Columbia River. The lakes are situated between the Selkirk Mountains to the east and the Monashee Mountains to the west. Beac ...

area, which adds

Nakusp The Village of Nakusp () is located south of the mouth of Kuskanax Creek, on the Upper Arrow Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. Lying between the Selkirk and Monashee ranges, the village is known for its nearb ...

. ''(illustrated by d)'' * The Upper Columbia Valley, which parallels the first section of the Kootenay River, including the communities of

Invermere Invermere is a community in eastern British Columbia, Canada, near the border of Alberta. It is the hub of the Columbia Valley between Golden to the north and Cranbrook to the south. Invermere sits on the northwest shore of Windermere Lake a ...

and

Radium Hot Springs Radium Springs may refer to: __NOTOC__ Canada *Radium Hot Springs, British Columbia, a village in British Columbia ** Radium Hot Springs Airport United States *Radium Springs, Georgia *Radium Springs, New Mexico *Radium Hot Springs (Colorado), ...

''(illustrated by e)'' * The Columbia drainage between the

Kicking Horse Pass Kicking Horse Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass across the Continental Divide of the Americas of the Canadian Rockies on the Alberta–British Columbia border, and lying within Yoho and Banff national parks. Divide Creek forks onto both ...

and the Rogers Pass, in and around the town of Golden. ''(illustrated by f)'' * The Columbia drainage between the Rogers Pass and the Eagle Pass, in and around the town of Revelstoke. ''(illustrated by g)'' When the above regions are added, sometimes the region's name is morphed into Columbia-Kootenay or Kootenay-Columbia, although that terminology also includes the Big Bend Country and Kinbasket Lake, to the north of Golden and Revelstoke, which is not generally considered part of the Kootenays, though part of the

. Finally, the

Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west ...

, a southern east–west corridor between the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of ...

and the Bonanza Pass and drained by the basins of the

Kettle A kettle, sometimes called a tea kettle or teakettle, is a device specialized for boiling water, commonly with a ''lid'', ''spout'', and ''handle''. There are two main types: the ''stovetop kettle'', which uses heat from a cooktop, hob, and the ...

and

Granby River The Granby River is a tributary of the Kettle River in British Columbia, Canada, joining the Kettle just north of the Canada–United States border at the town of Grand Forks. The river is approximately in length and has its origin in the Monash ...

s, is sometimes mentioned as being in the West Kootenay, and in other reckonings as being part of the Okanagan. In actuality, the settlement of the Boundary Country predates development in either of the regions it is now attached to, as is also the case with the

Similkameen Country The Similkameen Country, also referred to as the Similkameen Valley or Similkameen District, but generally referred to simply as The Similkameen or more archaically, Similkameen, is a region roughly coinciding with the basin of the river of the sam ...

to the west of the Okanagan. In some descriptions, the Boundary Country includes Osoyoos and Oliver in the South Okanagan (rather than the other way around). The Boundary Country is ''(illustrated by h)'' In the event of its inclusion, the Kootenays could be described as the complete Canadian portion of the Columbia Basin minus lands drained by the

Okanagan River The Okanogan River (known as the Okanagan River in Canada) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately 115 mi (185 km) long, in southern British Columbia and north central Washington. It drains a scenic plateau region called t ...

Naming and subdivision

Contingent on the above boundaries, the Kootenays are commonly split either into East and West, or East, Central and West. In general use amongst locals of the area, the "East/West" convention is more common as a descriptor of where someone is from or where a town is located (rather than splitting the region into "East/Central/West" subregions). That being said: * The usual East-West separator is the

, a range running north–south through the region. Areas to the east of this range are deemed to be in "East Kootenay" or the "East Kootenays" while places west of this division are in "West Kootenay" or the "West Kootenays". This places Creston and points east in the ''East Kootenay'' (or ''East Kootenays'') and Crawford Bay,

and points west in the ''West Kootenay'' (or ''West Kootenays''). * The usual East-Central-West separators are the Purcell Mountains splitting East from Central and the

Selkirk Mountains The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mic ...

splitting Central from West. It remains unclear why both Kootenay and Kootenays are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the area. The plural form is in reference to ''The Kootenays'', both East and West; the singular is in reference to the ''Kootenay Region''. In practice the two terms are used interchangeably, although one indicates a geographical region and the other a legal boundary, the

, which was identical with the original federal and provincial Kootenay ridings.

Economy

Once settled by miners, loggers, and rail workers, the area experienced a

silver rush A silver rush is the silver-mining equivalent of a gold rush, where the discovery of silver-bearing ore sparks a mass migration of individuals seeking wealth in the new mining region. Notable silver rushes have taken place in Mexico, Chile, the U ...

in the 1890s. The district now contains important tourism, outdoor activity and fruit-growing regions (

Creston Valley The Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area is a Canadian river delta wetland and Wildlife Management Area near Creston in south-central British Columbia, on the floodplain of the Kootenay River at the south end of Kootenay Lake. Predominantly m ...

) and numerous commercial centres, including

Grand Forks Grand Forks is a city in and the county seat of Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. The city's population was 59,166 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in the state, after Fargo and Bismarck. Grand For ...

Kaslo Kaslo is a village on the west shore of Kootenay Lake in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia. A member municipality of the Central Kootenay Regional District, the name derives from the adjacent Kaslo River. Before the ...

, Robson,

Ymir In Norse mythology, Ymir (), also called Aurgelmir, Brimir, or Bláinn, is the ancestor of all jötnar. Ymir is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional material, in the ''Prose Edda'', writte ...

Warfield Warfield is a village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district, in the ceremonial county of Berkshire, England. In 2021 it had a population of 11,260. History Warfield was originally an Anglo-Saxon settlement and is recorded in the Do ...

, Montrose, Fruitvale,

Trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, Slocan, Playmor, Winlaw, Cranbrook,

, Fernie, Castlegar, Rossland,

Erickson Erickson may refer to: Places Canada * Erickson, British Columbia, an unincorporated area *Erickson, Manitoba Erickson is an unincorporated urban community in the Municipality of Clanwilliam – Erickson within the Canadian province of Manitoba ...

, and Creston. The region has a large network of outdoor activity operators, with the biggest facilities including lift, cat and heli-skiing. This includes some of the oldest resorts in North America such as Red Mountain, and largest Revelstoke Mountain. The highway that connects them all has been named th
powder highway
With the emergence of fibre internet, digital nomads and technology developers are now a growing part of the economy
Several coworking
and innovation centres have sprouted includin
Kootenay Lake Innovation Centre
A number of

Community Radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial broadcasting, commercial and public broadcasting. Community broadcasting, Community stations serve geographic communities and communities o ...

stations exist in the region, most notably

CJLY-FM CJLY-FM, known on-air as ''Kootenay Co-op Radio'', is a Canadian community radio station, which broadcasts at 93.5 FM in Nelson, British Columbia. The station also has rebroadcasters on 96.5 in Crawford Bay and 107.5 in New Denver, and 101.5 i ...

in Nelson,

CIDO-FM CIDO-FM, branded as Creston Community Radio, was a community radio station broadcasting with an effective radiated power of 20 watts in the Southern Interior town of Creston, British Columbia, Canada. The non-commercial station, airing on 97.7 F ...

in Creston and Stoke FM in Revelstoke. These stations usually operate either as

Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

s or as non-profit

Societies A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

. Since 2001
The Kootenay Mountain Culture
has brought the bioregion together under one magazine. It covers a range of topics including outdoor adventure, environmental issues, arts and culture, local events, and profiles of people living in the region.

References

External links

*
Kootenay Rockies Tourism Board website
{{Subdivisions of British Columbia, regions=yes Interior of British Columbia

Boundaries

Naming and subdivision

Economy

See also

References

External links