Elko is situated in the narrow Elk River valley in the rugged Canadian Rocky Mountains overlooking the beautiful Rocky Mountain Trench to the west. Elko is 20 miles (32 km) south of Fernie, and approximately 23 miles (37 km) north of the Canadian-USA border crossing at Roosville.
The community is in a local area called the “South Country”, which includes the communities of Elko, Jaffray, Baynes Lake, Wardner, Newgate, Galloway, and Grasmere.
Elko, BC Attractions
Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park
Southeast of Elko, and home to one of the densest grizzly bear populations in North America and the only specimens of Wyoming (Yellowstone) moose in Canada. The area has the highest peaks in the Clark Range of the Rockies – Starvation and King Edward, clocking in at 2,837 m (9,301 feet) and 2,802 m (9,186 feet), respectively. This park is home to half of all the rare and endangered plant species in British Columbia. To protect this delicate ecosystem, no motorized transportation is allowed in the park.
Akamina-Kishinena Provincial Park, together with Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta and Glacier National Park in Montana, form the Crown of the Continent, with a unique ecology in North America.
Elko Dam
Built on the Elk River in 1924 just one mile south of Elko, by East Kootenay Power Company. Construction began on the tunnel in 1922, and the powerhouse completed in 1923. The concrete diversion dam is 16 metres tall and 66 metres long and was built to allow high water levels to easily pass over the dam during spring run off. The power was first used by the Sullivan Mine in Kimberley and supplemented the supply from the dam on the Bull River and powered the towns of Fernie, Cranbrook and Kimberley and the surrounding areas.
Jaffray & Baynes Lake Farmers’ Market
468 Jaffray-Baynes Lake Road
BC V0B 1T4 CA
250-429-3519
mid June to early September, 9:00am to 12:30pm
Turn south off Highway 3 on to the Jaffray-Baynes Lake Road. A 20-minute drive takes you to the Community Centre (468 Jaffray Baynes Lake Road on the left side.
Check out the home-grown and baked goods at the at the Baynes Lake Community Centre on Saturday mornings in summer). Forty vendors sell arts and crafts, baked goods, plants, and fruit and vegetables.