Christina Lake is an unincorporated recreational area in the

Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west o ...

of the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...

region of

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It is located on

Crowsnest Highway The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection b ...

(

British Columbia Highway 3 British Columbia Highway 3, officially named the Crowsnest Highway, is an highway that traverses southern British Columbia, Canada. It runs from the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) at Hope to Crowsnest Pass at the Alberta border and for ...

), east of

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

and southwest of Castlegar.

History

Originally an important fishing ground to the

Sinixt The Sinixt"Sinixt Nation…" (also known as the Sin-Aikst or Sin Aikst,Reyes 2002, ''passim.'' "Senjextee", "Arrow Lakes Band", or — less commonly in recent decades — simply as "The Lakes") are a First Nations People. The Sinixt are ...

, Sanpoil,

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

and other tribes,

pictographs A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...

can still be found around the north-east shore of Christina Lake. The village and the lake were named after Christina McDonald, daughter of fur-trader Angus McDonald, who ran the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

trading post at

Fort Colville Fort Colville was a United States Army, U.S. Army post in the Washington Territory located north of current Colville, Washington. During its existence from 1859 to 1882, it was called "Harney's Depot" and "Colville Depot" during the first two y ...

from 1852-1871. The arrival of the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

in the late 1890s brought a number of townsites to the area around Christina Lake and it became a popular recreational area for visitors who came by rail from places like Grand Forks or

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

. In the early 1900s there were summer cottages, fishing and other activities. When the Cascade-Rossland Highway was completed in 1922, more tourists visited the region. During

Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...

, many American visitors from north-east

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made the trip across the border to enjoy the local saloons and dance halls. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, approximately 100

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

people were relocated in a summer resort hotel and its adjacent cabins, the Alpine Inn, on nearby English Point, where a school was established to teach Japanese and English. After the war and the restrictions were lifted, some of the families remained in the area.

Present day

Since the years following World War II, Christina Lake has again become a recreation community. Christina Lake boasts the warmest water of any tree lined lake in Western Canada and is a summer time mecca for power boating and water sports. Opened in 1963 and expanded in 1986, the Christina Lake Golf Course was built at the location of the old

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Cascade City Cascade City or Cascade was a Canadian Pacific Railway construction era boom town in the Boundary Country of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. Because of its location near the Canada–United States border, it was also calle ...

. The course was designed by golf course architect Les Furber and it is the first course in Canada to offer the rare feature of

black sand Black sand is sand that is black in color. One type of black sand is a heavy, glossy, partly magnetic mixture of usually fine sands containing minerals such as magnetite, found as part of a placer deposit. Another type of black sand, found on b ...

traps. The

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific to the A ...

and the historic

Dewdney Trail The Dewdney Trail is a trail in British Columbia, Canada that served as a major thoroughfare in mid-19th century British Columbia. The trail was a critical factor in the development and strengthening of the newly established British colony of Bri ...

and Kettle Valley Railroad Trail meet at Christina Lake, attracting hikers and tourists from around the world. The summer of 2011 saw the opening of the Christina Living Arts Centre designed by Studio 9 Architecture + Planning, which includes the town's visitor's centre as well as an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The lon ...

. The centre was built to LEED standards. Accompanying the Centre is the district's first Solar Aquatics water treatment facility.Solar Aquatics water treatment facility
/ref> Cristina Lake

Climate

Texas Point Campground and other public access points

There are four main public access points at Christina Lake. Texas Point is a campground in Christina Lake with a widely known and popular beach that includes cliffs that many residents and tourists scale and jump from. Christina Lake Provincial Park is the most used provincial park and is often busy. It has a big beach at the south end of the lake, as well as volleyball nets and picnic tables. The community boat ramps are located at English Point near the marina and Texas Point near the provincial campground. Another access point is at the Community Park and at the Living Arts Centre. The Living Arts Centre end has a beach beside the outflow of the lake and amid cottonwoods, and at the north end of the park, Sutherland Creek flows into the lake, with a sandy beach there as a result of the sand bar. Kingsley Beach is a public access point at LaValley Point, used by many people who stay at the hotels along Kingsley Road. The old Christina Lake Hotel and Dance Pavilion used to be located here. There are also the Provincial Park Campsites. There are many other public access points around the lake.

References

External links