Thursday 25 May 2023

Abandoned British Columbia

The ghost town of Alamo, British Columbia. Below is the remains of an old wagon at the site high above the ruins.


Alamo was a Canadian Pacific Railway siding and mining site. There was a concentrator and hydro-electric generating plant. The place was originally known as New Duluth. The mine was staked in 1892. In 1894 a concentrator and mill were built here and the mines were worked off and on for about forty years. In 1904 there were houses, bunkhouses, a school, stores, a post office and a population of about two hundred people. By 1955 a flood and forest fire damaged the area and everything was abandoned.

Along Highway 31A between New Denver and Kaslo there is a turn off to Sandon. Just off the intersection there is a small lot where you can park and walk the Galena Trail to Alamo. The trail is well marked and easy hiking and about three kilometres one way.

Great trail. Quiet, it is like walking in the forest on the west coast. Sometimes you are walking on a old rail line, other times you are walking on the remnants of old trails and roads that people traveled many years ago.


Old pieces of mining equipment can be observed along the trail.



Along the creek.


Little waterfall running down the mountain alongside the trail.


The trail takes you to the bottom of the mining operation. You can see the old rail ties embedded in the foreground in the photo below.


At the top looking down you can see various foundations, cable, pieces of equipment. A friend was with me. We explored at the top, there is cable from an old tramline. There is probably stuff we missed and we do want to do a return trip.







If you keep hiking, just past Alamo on the Galena Trail is a cable car to cross the creek to continue to New Denver. I did not take the cable car, I was not continuing on the trail. The water level was also high with spring runoff.


11 comments:

  1. That cable crossing reminds me of the West Coast Trail that I hiked many years ago. This looks like a very cool place to explore.

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  2. Now that is a great area to do some serious meandering with a camera. Thank you.

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  3. Looks like a great place to spend some time. I especially like the b&w photo of the old wagon wheel. That one speaks to the history of the place.

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    1. The wagon wheel was a surprise find. There was a lot of stuff we likely missed. We need to plan a return trip.

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  4. The air looks fresh and crisp. Getting out in the wild always makes my heart pump and feel a bit better. Hope you and your friends hearts did too.

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    1. I loved getting out. Wished I lived closer to the mountains.

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  5. That's a 10 hr drive from the WA home, be a neat trip up there! A lot of new country to see.
    I'd imagine you can camp in the woods up that way?

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    1. Maybe. There are campgrounds in the Kootenays.

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  6. Looks like no one remembered the Alamo.

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