r/kootenays

I am wondering if anyone has lived in both places or has a good understanding of both communities?

We are a young family and looking for a change and place to put some roots down somewhere new.

Our main interests are a lot of outdoor activities

Mountain sledding
Boating/tubing/swimming
Hunting
Hiking
Camping in the back country

We do plan to visit both places this summer but just curious to hear some actual feedback!

Hi everyone!

I am new to the West Kootenay area and wondering if there are any places to buy bulk products on "refill," preferable near Trail. I'm from the lower mainland and we had many options of refillery stores to get cleaning products, personal care items, as well as food bulk stores.

Is there any place to get things like cocoa butter, shampoo, castille soap in the way of refill, or in bulk?

Or any suggestions for sustainable stores around here? Thank you!

Hey everyone! I'm going to be taking a month long road trip, hopefully almost entirely in the Kootenay area this August.

I'm looking for recommendations on places to go, stay, eat, things that are must-see or just an interesting out of the way spot that most tourists will miss.

I'd love to hear your ideas and get some local wisdom!

Anyone use Square One Insurance? what has been your experience. It is customizable and cheaper, just wondering if it is worth it for house insurance.

Hi all, I have a very reactive dog that loves to swim. I was just wondering if anyone knew of some quieter pet friendly places I'd be able to take him for a swim near Castlegar as Syringa is just too busy for my anxious boy. I also don't want to trespass on private property either to access any spots as someone recommended Pass Creek to me, but my understanding is that area would involve crossing private property. Thank you in advance!

P.S. I also understand not everyone likes to reveal their secret spots on the internet (understandable) so I'm happy for DM's of places too and I promise not to reveal your secrets!

Hi, you all helped my fiancée and myself narrow our five week mtb road trip within the kootenays. We are headed to fernie, Kimberly, Rossland, Nelson and revelstoke

We have ridden many times in BC before, but never in grizzly territory. We have experience with black bears in terms of how to be respectful when encountering (I understand grizzly interactions are a bit different)

I am curious to the local riders, what your prep looks like when riding local and backcountry trails (not bike park)?
Do you carry bear spray on you? On your bike or in your pack? Do you ride alone? Anything else we should know about?

Just looking for general feedback on how best to be prepared. Thank you all and we are stoked to spend a month + in the kootenays.

Alright, I posted the subreddit before but things are quickly approaching and I need assistance. My husband and I are both healthcare workers, we have three young kids, seven and under, and we’re coming from Saskatchewan. Initially, we had planned on moving to the Castlegar area after visiting last year. After a lot of consideration, we started to consider the Comox Valley as well and I visited last month to look at houses.

We sold our house in Saskatchewan, and have about a month and a bit before we have to move (yes, I know this timeline is tight for finding a new place). I looked at houses in Campbell River, but didn’t find something that suits our needs that wasn’t needing a lot of work. With the pressure of needing to find a place my husband and I are really starting to panic. A lot of people have suggested renting, however due to our specific and unique circumstances we really need to purchase for mortgage approval reasons rather than rent. Plus, having three kids and a dog it really limits us for rentals. Anyways, with the stress of not finding something in the Campbell River area, we’re seriously rethinking everything and wondering if Castlegar the Kootenay region would be an okay fit for our family or if we should stick to the island.

I need external help at this point from people that live in the areas or have made the move to both or either of these regions, on what they prefer and why, or if they e regretted going to the koots (with kids) etc.

Pros of Campbell River: have heard that the hospital is a great place to work, near the ocean, no more harsh Saskatchewan winters, lots to do throughout the year, access to Costco, access more amenities that the koots might not have, not as isolated, near an airport which my husband would utilize to fly to work out of province. And we secured daycare for our kids.

Cons of CV/Campbell River: more expensive, busier, husband would need to fly out for work more often than in the Koots (higher cost expenses), as everyone says, more social political issues, such as high amount of unhoused, etc that we have everywhere in Canada, paying premium for a “meh” house.

Pros of the Kootenays: beautiful mountain towns, scenery and outdoor activities are amazing, cheaper, housing, quiet lifestyle, lots of access to outdoor outdoors. Likely more family time.

Cons of the Koots: commute to work in Trail Hospital, which I’ve heard isn’t the greatest work environment, “socked in” winter months, driving the pass to a bigger centre such as Kelowna for Costco groceries and airport for my husband to fly out for work, very hot, dry summers with forest, fire seasons, not as much access to amenities, and I’ve read on Reddit not much for kids to do/boring for kids in teen years in winter. We were there in the summer, so we obviously loved being able to go to the lakes everyday and go on hikes, however, the town of Castlegar itself didn’t seem to have much going for it in terms of workability having a nice downtown core, coffee, shops, community events for kids.

I’ve obviously not included all the pros and cons, but those are the main ones. I’m just really needing some assistance in this move plan I have family in Vancouver area that would visit us on the island living in the CV / CR region. We are OK with not seeing people as much but that’s another factor as well that people would have to drive in to see us in kootenays vs fly. This is kind of that mid range between pros and cons because family dynamics lol.

At times a quiet life in the kootenays seems very appealing and stress-free however when I take into consideration, possibly not enjoying my work, maybe getting bored because we’re so isolated, the very hot and dry forest fire prone summers. And having the in the valley socked in winter, then I start to think the island may be better. Please help, we are running out of time. And we are moving to BC no matter what, it’s just a matter of where. Also note I did get offered positions in both Island Health and interior Health so obtaining work for me won’t be a determining factor.

I went to see availability of Uber in Castlegar. I picked a random route of Castlegar airport to the Castlegar Boston Pizza. I was shocked to see that the app showed the airport as being in Kelowna! WTF? It couldn't show me the actual route or prices. Has anyone had problems like this or anything else with using Uber in Castlegar?

https://preview.redd.it/61bwy7h6oc5h1.jpg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=331a2efdd39d513bc33bfdc76edadd8befea3f8f

I am currently in Eastern Passage but I've been going around Canada most of my life and I'm wondering about how it is in Cranbrook since that's where I'm headed to next.

What are the ups and downs of the place? I've heard it's great if you enjoy hiking and nature but I've also heard that wildfires are common in the summertime? Is this true? And if so how bad do they get?

I would love to know all about it and if it's worth going :) Also curious about how the schools are since one of my family members is going there to take classes.