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Tumbler
Ridge
Tumbler
Ridge is located 115 km (71 miles) south-west of Dawson
Creek on Hwy 52 and 97 km (60 miles) south-east of Chetwynd
on Hwy 29.
Coal
Mining
Renowned for its large coal reserves in the area, Tumbler Ridge
was incorporated in 1981 to help extract this resource and then
later house the workers. Two large coal mines called Bullmoose and
Quintette were eventually developed to exclusively export to the
Japanese market.
Bullmoose
and Quintette Mines
Bullmoose Mine, an open-pit metallurgical coal mine, was located
40 km (25 miles) from Tumbler Ridge and was operated by mining giant,
Teck Cominco. Quintette Mine, also a producing metallurgical coal
mine, was a little closer, only 25 km (16 miles) from Tumbler Ridge
and was the largest open-pit coal mine in Canada at the time.
Hard
Economic Times
Bullmoose and Quintette Mines, because of the Japanese economy slowing
down, poor coal prices and mine exhaustion eventually had to close
- Bullmoose in 2003 and Quintette in 2000. This left Tumbler Ridge
on hard economic times for a number of years causing large numbers
of people to leave town for jobs and opportunities elsewhere.
Wolverine
Coal Deposit
Recently though, with the rising economies of China and the Far
East booming, coal mining opportunities in Tumbler Ridge have been
resurrected. The Wolverine coal deposit which is to be mined by
Western Canadian Coal is expected to create many jobs lasting well
into the future with a strong demand coming from East Asia, specifically
China.
Great
Expectations
Today in Tumbler Ridge you'll find lots of optimism, opportunity
for jobs, thriving businesses and the development of a vibrant community.
Great expectations in the future is now the norm for Tumbler Ridge
with the selling of real estate, the economy improving and lots
of opportunity for prosperity found everywhere.
Dinosaur
Bones and Fossils
Tumbler Ridge is also famous for the large amount of dinosaur fossils
found in the immediate area. In 2000, Daniel Helm and Mark Turner,
two young lads at the time, found the biggest ever deposit in British
Columbia of dinosaur bones and fossils around Flatbed Creek and
Canyon. If you can, try exploring this Flatbed area and spot the
specimens fossilized in the rock.
Gwillim
Lake Provincial Park
Travelling into Tumbler Ridge on Hwy 29 from Chetwynd, a park that
you'll go by is called Gwillim Lake Provincial Park. The park, only
60 km (38 miles) from Tumbler Ridge, features a beautiful lake,
vehicle-accessible campground, boat launch, wildlife viewing, swimming,
great canoeing and kayaking plus beautiful panoramic views of Mount
Meikle in the far background.
Waterfalls
One other thing that people from all over the world come to Tumbler
Ridge is to view the vast amount of waterfalls found throughout
the area. Some waterfalls like the spectacular Bergeron Falls can
prove a little more work to see, but there are also some other waterfalls
that you can get to via gravel roads and well-groomed trails.
Kinuseo
Falls
If you can, please take the time to travel and view Kinuseo Falls.
The falls are located in Monkman Provincial Park only 60 km (37
miles) south of Tumbler Ridge. At 60-metres high, Kinuseo Falls
are actually higher than Niagara Falls. You can either visit them
by a very accessible trail or by water, taking jet-boats along the
Murray River.
Monkman
Provincial Park
Monkman Provincial Park also features both vehicle and some backcountry
campsites. The park is a little harder to enter but is very serene
and contains some other waterfalls besides Kinuseo Falls. Monkman
Provincial Park also has some areas to go caving or spelunking if
you happen to be interested in cave exploring.
Wolverine
Nordic Ski Trails
Maintained by the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society these Nordic
ski hills will offer you plenty of great cross-country skiing during
the winter. Then, in the summer, the trails are opened for hiking
or to go mountain biking.
Lions
Campground
Located on the banks of Flatbead Creek the Lions Campground offers
28 campsites in a very private forested setting. Although power
or sewers are not available, the campground has nice large sites,
is in a great location plus has flush toilets, hot showers, sani-dump
and the price is very reasonable.
Be
'Bear Aware'
Please remember if you do happen to be about in the bush there are
bears in the immediate area. Please take the usual precautions,
carry a high-quality pepper spray, travel in groups, watch your
dog along the trails and learn about being bear and wildlife safety
in BC.
Information
on Tumbler Ridge
Provincial
Parks
Festivals
Accommodation
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