Chefprefers BLOG

Driving East along Highway 1 to Revelstoke through British Columbia, you eventually reach Three Valley Gap,

a place where the mountainous terrain levels together like they are having a one on one conversation. A deep blue lake reflects between towering forests and rocky peaks, while the road and railway squeezes through the only gap they can find. It looks like someone designed the scenery for a postcard, but the real artist was the ancient glaciers themselves.

After spending two days visiting Jen’s cousin in Vernon, he suggested we stop at Three Valley Gap. It was roughly halfway between Vernon and Revelstoke, making it the perfect excuse to stretch our legs and pretend we weren’t just sitting in a car watching the mountains go by.

As we approached, we saw the sign: “Ghost Town.”

Naturally, it featured the kind of cartoon ghost you might expect to see on a Halloween decoration from a reject shop. My first thought was, “Really? A ghost town? Is there an actual ghost, or just someone in a white sheet waiting for tourists?”

Normally, we would have kept driving. But since Jen’s cousin recommended it, we turned in.

The parking lot was relatively empty.

For a Saturday in this part of BC, that was suspicious. Either we had discovered a hidden gem or the ghost town had already scared everybody away.

I was also getting a little sleepy, so it was either explore a ghost town or become a ghost myself.

Inside the quiet lobby, a woman greeted us at the counter. Admission was $10 for adults or $8 for seniors. We confidently claimed the senior discount. Technically, seniors were supposed to be 65+, but my glasses were conveniently not helping me read the fine print.

Saving two dollars? It’s gotta be a victory and a bargain for our retirement milestone.

As we found out, the “ghost town” was the creation of Gordon Bell, who dedicated years in preserving pieces of British Columbia’s past. Buildings and artifacts from around the province were collected, moved, and restored here. It wasn’t really a ghost town in the spooky sense, it was more like BC’s biggest historical storage shed.

And oh my “what a shed”.

Every building was packed. The place looked like someone opened a time capsule and forgot to close it. The old tool shed was filled wall-to-wall with rusty tools. There was a railway roundhouse, surely one of the largest in BC, where locomotives could be rotated and moved into different sections for repairs.

After wandering around for a while, I had to admit it: the place was actually worth the admission.

The adjacent resort added to the atmosphere. It had a charming 1950s look, the kind of place where you half expected to find an old suitcase in the hallway and wonder who packed it.

So maybe the ghost town sign wasn’t completely wrong.

There might not be a sheet-covered ghost waiting around the corner, but Three Valley Gap definitely feels like a place where the past never fully left.

It’s not just a roadside stop. It’s a little piece of BC history with a slightly creepy sense of humour.