Out There Outdoors magazine has featured Castlegar in its article “Visit Canada’s Arrow Lakes Region This Fall.” The magazine, based in Spokane, Washington and distributed across the Pacific Northwest Region, played up the world-class mountain biking and fishing around Castlegar, as well as the locally grown farm fare, which is at its peak in the autumn months.
The article begins by touching on the farming heritage of the region saying, “The fertile lands of the Slocan Valley and Arrow Lakes attracted pioneers to the area a century ago and small-scale farming traditions continue here. There are now about 40 farms and food producers located in the Slocan Valley alone and their offerings are available at road-side stands and farmer’s markets throughout the autumn months.” The Doukhobors are perhaps the best-known farmers of the area having moved here from Russia in the early 1900s and settled in the Columbia River Basin where fertile soil was plentiful. You can learn more about the culture in our article about the Headwaters Podcast that featured local Doukhobor lore.
The piece goes on to mention Tailout Brewing in Castlegar and its staff’s love of fishing and then describes all the nearby recreational activities that are available in the autumn months including fishing on the Columbia River and Lower Arrow Lake “where you’ll find some of the largest kokanee salmon in the world, as well as rainbow trout and walleye.” From there it moves on to drier activities such as mountain biking the popular network of Merry Creek, just west of the city, and gravel-grinding the former rail bed of the C&W Trail, which runs “runs alongside Lower Arrow Lake and through tunnels before veering south and west for 150 kilometres.”
Towards the end of the article, various family-friendly hikes are described including the Yellow Pine Nature Trail in Syringa Provincial Park that offers views of Arrow Lake from a terraced hillside. And the magazine also plays up the fact there are many “beautiful waterfalls, rock climbing cliffs, lakeside camping spots, as well as plenty of wildlife to see, from bighorn sheep and elk to bufflehead ducks and ospreys.”
For more about autumn adventures in Castlegar, read our articles “Where to See Wildlife in the Fall” and “Endless Summer Family-Friendly Activities.” To read the Out There Outdoors Magazine article in its entirety, visit outthereoutdoors.com.