Postcards from Kimberley BC
As an avid golfer I am always looking for new challenges and new courses to play, so when some golf buddies said they were planning a golf trip to Kimberley I quickly said, “I’m in.” Kimberley BC has become a popular golf destination over the past several years, with the addition of new courses like Wildstone, Canada’s first Black Knight Designed course by the golf legend Gary Player.
The tourism people have also come up with a clever “Golf 24/7 in Kimberley” promotion, based on the fact there are 7 golf courses within 24 minutes in the area.
But there is more to Kimberley than golf!
Kimberley might just be the gnome capital of Canada as I found them everywhere.
Will be back…
While we were rained out on the day we were suppose to play Wildstone, we did get to play Bootleg Gap, St. Eugene Mission and Shadow Mountain. Each course offered some of the most spectacular mountain views and dramatic elevation changes of any place I have played. Each course had a signature hole with a huge elevation drop from tee to green.
I expect we will have to go back next year so we can play Wildstone, as well as Trickle Creek, Kimberley Golf & Country Club and the Cranbrook Golf & Country Club.
The dramatic light and the rock formations along the Kimberly area golf courses can be very distracting for the serious golfer.
Cuckoo Clock Fame
Kimberley is more than just a golf destination, it is year-round recreation mecca for skiers, cyclists, hikers and fishermen. It is known as Canada’s Bavarian City with its lovely downtown pedestrian mall lined with shops, restaurants and cafes housed in Bavarian-like architecture. It even has the world largest cuckoo clock.
One of the attractions that caught my attention was the unique Kimberley Underground Mining Railway that travels through the beautiful Mark Creek valley and into the historic Sullivan Mine. You get to learn about life as a miner at the Underground Interpretive Centre from a retired miner and guided tour featuring the huge compressors and generators that powered the mine. Sounds like fun!
Link: Tourism Kimberley
Link: Kimberley Underground Railway Video
Here are some postcards from my Kimberley trip, hope you enjoy them….
Wandering the streets of Kimberley you will find lots of strange things like this enchanting tiny house?
Deer are like dogs in Kimberley. It is common to find them lying in people’s front and backyards like they live there. I guess in some ways they do.
Loved this patio at Pedal and Tap with its bikes…there are also several vintage bikes inside, as well as some good beer.
Gotta love the name.
The Spirit Rock Climbing Centre is one of several more contemporary buildings now populating downtown Kimberley.
St. Eugene Mission
While in the Kimberley area a trip to the St. Eugene Mission is well worth it, not only for the golf course but for the history.
The St.Eugene Church was built in 1897 and restored in 2016.
For more than half a century, the hated brick building of the St. Eugene Mission swallowed up native children and spit them back out, traumatized and damaged from their years of family separation, cultural assimilation and worse.
Even after the Catholic-run residential school closed its doors for good in 1970, deep physical and emotional scars remained.
As the abandoned building deteriorated, most natives wanted it torn down. But the old school, whose three storeys loom over the reserve of the St. Mary's Band of the Ktunaxa Nation Council, did not succumb to the wrecker's ball.
Instead, in a remarkable, one-of-a-kind turnaround, the St. Eugene Mission has been transformed into a handsome, upscale hotel, with an adjacent casino and championship, 7,000-yard golf course.
The Golf Courses
Found what could be the world’s largest sand trap when we played Shadow Mountain. Fortunately the course designer did not incorporate it into the golf course - unless you really hook the ball.
Shadow Mountain’s signature hole.
St. Eugene’s signature hole.
The St. Eugene Golf course has interesting information panels at every tee box. Reminded me of the Catholic church’s “stations of the cross.”
Just one of the many dramatic view you encounter when golfing in the Kimberley area.
If you find yourself travelling in the Kimberley/Cranbrook area be sure to get off the highway and check out the small towns and villages.
If you like this blog, you will like these links:
Stuart McLean: Travels In Small Towns In North America