By Laura Keil
What is that thing sticking out of the ground?
It’s a question you may find yourself asking regularly while exploring beaches and shorelines in the Arrow Lakes. Even before Hugh Keenleyside dam was completed in 1968, the Kootenay silver rush and several runaway fires left a good number of ghost towns and ruins in the Arrow Lakes region. Recently I visited some of these historic sites including Edgewood’s “Dump Beach” (former town site), the former location of the Gates of St. Leon Hotel and Lower Ononoaklin Road (formerly Lakeshore Drive) as part of my research of the area’s history.
Other places like Arrowhead, Comaplix and the former Renata townsite I didn’t get to see, but I hope to visit one day. Not much remains of these anymore. If you’ve got a kayak, there’s a great brochure at the Nakusp Visitor Centre that can be purchased for around $10 that includes historic sites, some only accessible by water. In the nearby Slocan Valley and on towards Kaslo, there are several more ghost towns.
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