Grand Forks (British Columbia)

Grand Forks is a city of about 4,000 people (2016) in the West Kootenays, near the Washington, USA border. It is a useful food and fuel stop when travelling the Crowsnest Highway.

Understand
The city is in the traditional territory of the Sinixt people, who lived here for at least 10,000 years. Bounded by tall mountains, they interacted with nearby First Nations, but settlers did not arrive until the early 19th century. Smallpox epidemics in the late 18th and early 20th centuries killed some 80% of the population. The 49th parallel border imposed by US and Britain divided the Sinixt territory in two. Most people ended up living south of the border, in the Colville Indian Reservation. The completion of the Grand Coulee Dam blocked salmon migrations up the Columbia River, ending centuries of salmon culture and removing a food source. In 1956 the Canadian government declared the "Arrow Lakes Band" as extinct. However, Sinixt descendants continue to leave in Vallican.

Small numbers of settlers visited the region early in the 19th century, but in the 1890s the development of copper mining brought about permanent settlement. The present city of Grand Forks was established in 1897. Between 1900-1910, pacifist Russian settlers known as "Doukhobors" settled in the area. The population reached 1500 by 1911.

The city of Grand Forks has a population of some 4,000 people (2016), and 10,000 or so live in the Grand Forks area.



Get in
Highway 3, the Crowsnest Highway, brings you to Grand Forks from the east and the west.

Highway 41, the Danville Highway, approaches from the south, from the Carson port of entry. This crossing is served by Washington Highway 21.

By airport
If you own a recreational aircraft, you can fly into.

Get around
The core of Grand Forks is walkable and compact. A car will be most convenient.

By public transit

 * On Fridays, offers a return trip between Grand Forks and Greenwood. Reservation required by the day before.
 * On Tuesdays offers Health Connections trips between Rock Creek and Grand Forks with stops in Midway and Greenwood. Reservations must be made by the day before. The trips are open to all members of the public, but as "Health Connections" trips, people traveling to medical appointments receive priority for reservations.