The Great Trail, the Kettle and Granby Rivers all meet in Grand Forks.
A lush, broad valley with the Monashee Mountains overlooking miles and miles of farmlands, you’ll find ample opportunity to enjoy outdoor recreation, heritage sites and cultural attractions unique to this part of British Columbia.
The community is vibrant with festivals and events, including celebration of Canada’s smallest city at Greenwood’s annual Founder’s Day festivities. Immerse yourself in the small city culture and discover a warm celebration that’s authentically Boundary Country.
Rekindle your favourite summer memories of the lake, or create new ones. Celebrate local talent, arts and culture at the water’s edge. Have fun at the markets, the family beach party, the beach volleyball tournament and the boat parade. Try a new watersport for the first time, discover emerging artists and fill up on barbecue in a warm welcome to summer at the lake during the Christina Lake Homecoming Summerfest.
Facts
• The Boundary Museum & Interpretive Centre is housed in the Fructova Heritage Site, built by the Christian Communities of Universal Brotherhood (CCUB) Doukhobors in 1929 as a facility to teach English and academics. The school was in use until the late 1940s. The Boundary Museum currently features five larger exhibits – the Doukhobors, a schoolroom, local wildlife and environment and historic store – in addition to several smaller exhibits on First Peoples, Chinatown in Grand Forks, forestry, sports and music.
• Marty Thomas has been hunting, guiding and practicing taxidermy for almost 30 years and at the Alpine Taxidermy & Wildlife Museum you can see life-like preserved species of many big and small game found throughout BC. There’s no charge to walk through the museum and several items are for sale for the right price. Outside, Marty and wife Marlene have put in a Cedar Tree maze for the kids and have many rock and flower gardens to explore.
• Maple Lane Alpaca Farm is as it sounds, but also has beautiful handmade blankets, shawls and scarves for sale (and you can check out the alpacas whose coats make them!)
• The Grand Forks Visitor Centre provides visitor services for Grand Forks and the Boundary Region. Stop in to learn about events, trails, hikes, shopping, accommodation, restaurants and much more! Tour the building, the former 1912 Grand Forks Courthouse. Gallery 2: Art & Heritage Centre is on site with visual art exhibits, a Gift Shop featuring locally made items and a photographic display of regional history.
While dry year-round, Grand Forks summers are typically short, warm and partly cloudy; winters are freezing and mostly cloudy.
Destination BC is developing a new campaign to promote hyper-local travel where residents are “tourists-in-their own hometown,” while practising the COVID-19 safety protocols as recommended by the B.C. Provincial Health Officer. Many B.C. parks are now open, and national parks were to open as of June 1.
(Check this website for current details on travel.)
Getting Here
Driving Travel time from Vancouver to Grand Forks is about six hours via Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1 E, BC-3 E & Crowsnest Hwy/BC-3 E. The distance is 522km (201 mi).