A drive-by kinda town – but one that gradually grows on you
Kamloops from Lac du Bois. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Candace Hansma
There are several places in British Columbia that sit high up on many a bucket list. But Kamloops is not one of them. I’ve visited four times now, to stay with my in-laws. The first occasion I really didn’t know what to make of it – I was underwhelmed and puzzled. The second time I began to like it. The third and fourth time I really enjoyed the place – and figured out the reasons why. If you want to discover the real Canada this is a great place to start.
Half-way house
Kamloops is an in-between kind of place in more ways than one. It’s too big for a town but not really large enough to count as a city. It’s half-way between Calgary and Vancouver. And half-way between the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Mountain ranges. It’s even middling in terms of altitude. Much higher than the coast (about 350 metres above sea level) but much lower than the peaks to east and west.
It does, however, get a lot of traffic passing through or briefly stopping. The reason being that the busy Trans-Canada Highway and the railroad line both run right through the middle. If you want to travel between Vancouver and Calgary, or move goods between the coast and the interior, then the only sensible route is via Kamloops. Sitting at a convenient midpoint on the journey it’s the overnight rest-stop for the Rocky Mountaineer Train and the obvious layover for weary motorists. Talking to friends who have made the trip, and booked into one of the many motels, the response is generally the same – one night in Kamloops is more than enough.
Stay a little longer, however, and you might be surprised at what you start to notice.
View over Kamloops. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Mary Putnam
Unremarkably urban
The city itself, it has to be said, is not pretty. The first European explorers arrived here just over 200 years ago and established a small fort and trading post. In 1858 the start of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush brought in a wave of prospectors. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which reached Kamloops from the West in 1885, stimulated further growth and the city was incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500. What you see today was therefore built in about 140 years – so, given the hurry, architecture of any merit is well-nigh non-existent.
The Brownstone Restaurant. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Candace Hansma
The Brownstone Restaurant, the poshest in town, is housed in what was the Canadian Bank of Commerce building, one of the oldest (if not the oldest) structure still standing (built 1904). Downtown is just a handful of streets sandwiched between the railroad line and the Trans-Canada Highway. That description doesn’t make it sound very appealing, does it? But that’s the way it is, a concrete grid of offices, municipal building, stores and cafes. Clean, well maintained…but dull, verging on ugly.
Central Kamloops. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer New Productions Productions
The city has expanded rapidly in the past 50 years, spilling out along the valley floor in a mass of retail and industrial parks. A friend of ours, who recently emigrated for Somerset to Vancouver Island, disparagingly commented that “Kamloops has the highest concentration of Tim Hortons Restaurants in all of Canada.” I’m not sure if he’s right but an online search pulled up 11 Tim Hortons in the immediate locality.
Tim Hortons, if you don’t already know, is Canada’s version of McDonalds/Burger King. Popular items include their “Triple Triple”, coffee with three shots of cream and three sugars (300+ calories in just one go) plus donuts (box of six assorted, 1860 calories). NB, recommended intake for men in US 2500 a day and 2000 for women – do the math.
As well as fast food outlets there’s a huge number of retail malls, muffler shops, motor dealerships, lube & tire businesses, metal fabricators, industrial and mining equipment supplies, hardware stores and trucking companies. In other words, miles of ugly tin sheds and parking lots. Further out, and crawling up the hillsides, there’s a huge rash of new housing developments.
As you pull into town on the Rocky Mountaineer train, or stop for gas, coffee and donuts, this is what your weary eyes are going to see. So, it’s no wonder the place is likely remembered by most visitors for all the wrong reasons.
Seeing what I’d been missing
Staying with family, on four occasions, I’ve had the opportunity to look beyond the obvious ugliness. First time, however, I was just baffled and disappointed – like many people this did not fit in with my expectations, my “picture of what I thought Canada ought to be like”. It wasn’t lovely Lake Louise, or awesome Banff National Park, or cosmopolitan Vancouver. Frankly I was in a rush to “do stuff and see stuff” and, family apart, time spent there seemed a bit of a waste. It’s no coincidence that I got stopped for speeding on my first visit – driving the brother-in-law’s pickup back into town after a day’s fishing. Luckily the cop let me off with a warning when he discovered that, although the vehicle had BC plates, I was a Brit. He was more interested in asking me “what kind of guns do they pack in England?” Seriously…
By the third visit, having “done” many of the main attractions in British Columbia and Western Alberta, I was more chilled out and began to see Kamloops less for what it wasn’t and more for what it was - warts and all I found it increasingly interesting. On the fourth visit I was even more relaxed. Partly because my n-laws were now older and less active, partly because I myself was recovering from Covid and feeling fairly knackered and, last but not least, because the temperatures were 30°+.
Wide open spaces well worth exploring
This 600 mile east-west route features stunningly scenic at either end, passing through a series of jaw-dropping mountain ranges and gigantic river valleys. The bit in the middle, around Kamloops, suffers by comparison – it’s nowhere near as dramatic. However, the landscape is very distinctive (if you can take your eyes off the road and avoid the trucks). Sitting between those mountain ranges it’s in a rain shadow – very dry in summer and really hot. The rolling hills are covered in rough grasses, sagebrush and cactus, punctuated by lakes and areas of thick pine forest. It’s arid, almost semi-desert – not like anywhere else I’ve ever been.
Walking in grasslands just west of Kamloops
What’s more, those hills are pretty big. Mount Harper, overlooking Kamloops from the north-west is 1500 metres high, considerably taller than Ben Nevis. Tod Mountain, 35 minutes’ drive to the north, tops out at 2155 metres. The landscape around Kamloops may not be as sensational as that in the truly enormous mountain ranges to east and west but it is special in its own rather peculiar way. You just have to stop comparing it to the familiar tourist pictures of aqua blue lakes ringed by jagged snow-topped peaks.
View from Sun Peaks, just north of Kamloops. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Mary Putnam
Wildlife aplenty
On our latest visit we went for some relatively gentle walks through the surrounding countryside. My in-laws are foresters and naturalists and listening to them I began to appreciate just how remarkable and unusual the environment of these high grasslands really is. Apart from some pretty special views you may also see California Big Horn Sheep, deer, River Otters, three species of owl, Bald Eagles, an assortment of snakes, skunks, coyotes and moose. There are also plenty of black bears but you don’t want to view them too close up (unless you are in a car). It’s highly unlikely you’ll see a cougar. But if you do, don’t run - better to appear like a threat rather than food!
Early summer - hot and dry already.
Another curiosity was the fact that we were there in springtime. Only to find they don’t really have such a thing. A couple of weeks before the lakes were frozen and there was snow on the ground. In the distance the hilltops were still glistening white. And yet we were now sweltering in 32° heat under a glaring sun and not even the tiniest cloud to be seen. The weather just flips, almost overnight, from winter to summer. What’s more, on our almost month-long tour of Calgary, Kamloops and The Kootenays it did not rain once. Not a drop. No wonder they are having so many big forest fires.
So, what’s the story with that line of cliffs?
There’s another feature of the physical geography around Kamloops that’s intriguing – one that I had noted on previous visits but never fully appreciated. Kamloops is built around the junction of two enormous rivers, the North Thompson River and the South Thompson River. My in-laws live on Valleyview Drive, which, as the name suggests, has a good view of the South Thompson Valley – it runs parallel to the river, on the south bank, with large hills rising on either side. What’s peculiar about these hills is that the lower section features steep sandy cliffs rising to about 100 metres above the valley floor.
What’s the story here? Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Mary Putnam
These cliffs form a distinctive line that runs for miles along both sides of the South Thompson Valley. They tower over the front of my in-law’s house and can be seen clearly from the deck at the back.
Technical terms for this geological feature include “gullied benchlands” and “silt bluffs”. But how did they come into being? The valley is approximately 50 million years old and for about 40 million of those the river flowed west to east (the opposite direction to the present one), then headed north before finally entering the Arctic Ocean. However, during the last Ice Age, 13,000BC to 10,000BC, glaciers blocked the ends of the valley, creating dams and enormous glacial lakes. The bottom of these lakes filled up with a deep layer of silt and gravel.
When the thaw came at the end of this period the ice dam at the western end was breached. The lakes emptied, with the South Thompson River changing direction – it now comes out in the Pacific Ocean. Over the last 12,000 years it has carved its way down through the silt and gravel to form cliffs, which have then been further eroded by rain to create the sharply defined gullies. The relatively flat areas on top of the cliffs are what remain of the gigantic lake bed.
It’s an interesting process to mull over as you sit on the deck, watching the sun go down, cold beer in hand and with the occasional humming bird overhead (yes, there are even humming birds here).
Outdoor adventures – spoilt for choice
While the town itself is nothing to write home about the range of outdoor sporting activities is hard to beat. Those grasslands, rolling hills and scenic lakes, are great for hiking – you don’t have to be a mountaineer to get some great days out (and there are no Grizzly Bears round these parts).
For the same reason this is a top mountain biking destination. And if you like to get extreme and get some scary video on your Go-Pro then those sandy cliffs are ideal.
Miles and miles of trails. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Michelle McAleese
There’s plenty of water sports to enjoy on the river and lakes, plus three very scenic golf courses.
In the winter cross-country skiing is hugely popular with the locals with around 200 hundred kilometres of prepared ski trails around the town. Sun Peaks, about an hour’s drive away, is the second largest downhill skiing area in all of Canada.
Skiing at Bush Lake. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Hike Kamloops
Other winter sports include ice skating and hockey, dog sledding, hiking on snow shoes, snowmobile exploring and ice fishing. Talking of fishing…
Fishing Mecca
Kamloops is one of the world’s top angling hotspots. For starters the area boasts more than 1,000 lakes. It’s also the birthplace of the world-famous ‘Kamloops Trout’, a strain of Rainbow Trout with natural tendencies that make it a fly-fisher’s dream – a voracious appetite for insects, highly acrobatic once hooked and reaching an impressive size. Many of the lakes are also stocked with other strains of Rainbow Trout, including Pennask, Blackwater and Fraser Valley.
The area has been pulling in keen anglers for years (including members of the British Royal family in the 1920s and early Hollywood stars) which in turn means there are now numerous fishing lodges and guides - Kamloops can justifiably consider itself the founder of stillwater trout fishing.
Then there’s the South Thompson River. It’s a highway for millions of spawning Sockeye, Chinook, Coho and Pink salmon. Year-round residents include sturgeon, Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden and Mountain Whitefish. It is also the freshwater home to some of the largest and strongest Steelhead found in North America.
I was even able to catch a couple of small Kamloops trout on one of the small backcountry lakes in the middle of nowhere (with a lot of help from a local who knew exactly what he was doing). For the full story of that memorable day see my Bellyboating for beginners post.
Two that didn’t get away
Sports of all sorts
With such a wealth of sporting opportunities on offer it’s no surprise Kamloops is known as the Tournament Capital of Canada and hosts over 100 tournaments each year – everything from ice hockey to athletics, baseball to curling at a variety of world-class sports facilities such as the Tournament Capital Centre, McArthur Island Park, and the Tournament Capital Ranch.
Watching the economy flow
Sitting on the deck at the back of my in-law’s house on Valleyview Drive, cup of coffee or bottle of beer in hand, there’s a constant rattle and hum in the air. That’s because the railroad line and the trans-Canada highway both run along the other side of the next block. The trains are more noticeable – you can see them on the far side of the neighbouring homes and there’s quite a rumble, clanking and hooting as they trundle past.
The trains are all carrying freight (with the exception of the Rocky Mountaineer pulling in each evening with a fresh load of tourists). They are long, up to 30 cars, powered by three locomotives. And the flow is constant. I see trucks loaded with coal and timber heading for the coast. Then there are whole trains carrying new vehicles in from the far east. Most of the rolling stock consists of closed box cars. My sister-in-law tells me these mainly carry grain, potash, sulphur, fertilizers, petroleum and other chemicals.
Observing this incessant flow of cargoes roll by is strangely fascinating – I’m literally watching the lifeblood of the economy pumping along one of its major arteries. This is a sight that would have been familiar in Britain a couple of generations ago, but one that’s now little more than a memory. We no longer produce large quantities of raw materials and our industrial base is so small as to be almost invisible. As a service economy most of the work is done by people sitting in offices in front of screens.
Digging it
Mulling over such thoughts I pick up the local paper, Kamloops This Week. There’s a 12-page pullout supplement entitled MINING MONTH MAY 2023. The main article is by the Mines Minister of British Columbia celebrating the leading role that the various mines around Kamloops play in the economy of the province. There are other articles about everything from new mines in development to discussions about environmental issues, along with ads for everything from mining machinery to waste management solutions, and horizontal long hole drilling to hose manufacturing.
Mining Month supplement
This reminds me that a couple of days earlier we passed a huge open cast mine just off the main highway about 10kms west of Kamloops. A quick online search identified it as the Afton mine. This closed in 1977 but recently began operating again, but as an underground mine. In 2019 the 750 workers extracted 79,000,000 lbs (36,000,000 kg) of copper, and 69,000 ounces of gold. A further 20kms south-west there’s British Columbia’s biggest open cast copper mine. According to the website it currently produces enough ore to fill about 70 commercial truckloads each day, which is then sold overseas to smelters.
I know that this supplement is a PR exercise but it still suggests a largely positive local attitude towards mining – people are proud of the fact that, in the words of one article, that “these mines generate more than 30,000 good family supporting jobs for people in communities throughout the province.” What’s more, one of the articles makes a strong sustainability case, pointing out that minerals such as copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt are critical for the green technologies that will help achieve the goal of a net-zero future. It quotes a recent survey where 73% of respondents agreed with the statement “I want British Columbia to be a world leader in providing the critical minerals the world needs”. Only 27% said they “didn’t care”.
Digging it less
At home our local paper is the Cheddar Valley Gazette. Cheddar sits at the base of the Mendip Hills, at the mouth of the famous gorge. The escarpment directly behind has been largely removed – a huge quarry forms the backdrop to the town, its towering slabs of bare rock dwarfing the houses below. There’s another equally big quarry behind this one, about a mile distant. Quarrying is the main industry here, and by far the most visible – the stream of heavily laden quarry lorries is hard to ignore. Do they celebrate “Quarry Month” in the Cheddar Valley Gazette?
No. Most people around Cheddar have a negative attitude towards the quarries. Instead of recognising the valuable contribution they make to the local economy residents complain about the ugliness of the sites, the dust, the noise and the traffic nuisance. The contrast with the attitude in Kamloops towards their local heavy industry could not be more marked.
Boom town
Mining is not the only heavy industry around Kamloops. There’s a huge paper mill and a large plywood and veneer production plant, reflecting the fact that forestry and timber represent another large part of the local economy. With so much heavy stuff being produced locally it’s no surprise that over 50 trucking and transport companies are listed in Kamloops. There’s also a major hospital, the city’s largest employer, and a university.
Ranching around Kamloops. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Mary Putnam
The surrounding countryside supports a lot of cattle and horse ranches, plus a host of farms producing a wide variety of food crops. Visiting the Kamloops Farmers’ Market is a revelation (outdoors every Saturday and Wednesday morning throughout the summer and indoors every Saturday in the winter). It has been going continuously since 1978 and now has about 100 vendors selling everything from fruit and vegetables to bread and cakes, honey and jam to charcuterie and wine, along with a host of handcrafted soaps, jewellery and essential oils.
Kamloops Farmers’ Market. Image courtesy of Tourism Kamloops. Photographer Candace Hansma
Kamloops - it’s the real thing
Popular tourist destinations on Canada’s must-see list, like Banff Lake Louise, are undeniably more scenic and instagrammable than Kamloops. And they also offer a great range of outdoor activities. But, being primarily reliant on the tourist industry, I find them slightly artificial, shallow and transient. There’s not much else going on there other than hospitality and retail. Most of the people pass few in a few hours or stay a week at most. Even a lot of the residents are temporary, twenty somethings working there on a gap year ski or summer season.
Kamloops not only offers plenty of ways for visitors to enjoy themselves but is also a thriving community. It started out as a trading post. And it still is. Commerce is the town’s whole raison d’etre. Although not pretty, it has genuine character. People aren’t there because it’s a destination but because it’s home. They’ve put down deep roots, they have pride in the place and aren’t worried about providing a satisfying visitor experience. That doesn’t mean it’s unfriendly. Just that the friendliness is more genuine.
When I think of downtown Banff gift shops, art galleries, boutique fashion stores come to mind. With Kamloops a completely different image presents itself. It’s the parking lot of the shopping mall just a couple of blocks from my in-laws. To my left is Peavey Mart, a farm and ranch store “offering a unique selection of agriculture, farm and ranch, pet, work wear, lawn and garden, hardware and homesteading supplies for those who enjoy a down-to-earth rural lifestyle” (taken from their website). To my right is Save on Foods. On my first visit it was called Overwaitea. That’s because the founder, back in 1915, liked selling 18 ounces of tea for the price of 16, and the name “overweight tea” stuck. Sitting between these two is The Angry Otter Liquor Store. So, what’s the story behind that name?! Directly outside there’s an impressive selection of mighty pickup trucks and beefy guys loading them down with packs of beer. I’m glad I’ve seen the likes of Banff. But I’d rather spend my time in Kamloops - it’s more real.
Getting the beers in at The Angry Otter.
