Revelstoke, British columbia
History Squared
Three Valley Gap is a monument to its own history
WHITHER JOHN WAYNE? An old saloon reflects the past—as well as the Monashee Mountains that surround the valley. Click here to view History Squared Gallery. —photo by Tanya Laing
When I was a child, our family used to make an annual trip from southern Alberta to Vancouver Island. My dad is one of those travellers who likes to get from Point A to Point B with the fewest possible stops. We used to leave High River at 4 a.m., hit the Golden Smitty's for pancakes (and to change out of our pajamas) at 6:30, a stop in Salmon Arm for lunch, Abbotsford by dinner and overnight with my Uncle Tom and then up again before dawn to catch the first ferry across to the Island. (Once, we left the house at midnight and made Vancouver Island early in the day, but my mum threatened Dad with divorce if he ever tried that again.) If you’re keeping track, that’s about three stops on a 12-hour journey. My dad wasn’t very talkative on many of the trips, but my brother and I could always count on him for one constant refrain: “Just hold it. We’ll pull over in about an hour.”
We all developed bladders of steel.
On the monumental drives through the mountains, my brother and I would always wonder at the red-roofed buildings on the shores of Three Valley Lake west of Revelstoke. There was a lot there to grab our attention, including a ghost town, old locomotives and a beach on the Three Valley Lake. Once in a great while, we would be able to preplan our attack so that the solid 15 minutes of whining and cajoling would be enough to convince Dad that he should pull over at the resort for a five-minute respite from the road. Those brief glimpses were enough to stoke a long curiousity about Three Valley Gap.
Two and a half years ago, I had a chance to interview Gordon Bell, the man behind the resort. I asked him the origins of Three Valley Lake Chateau & Heritage Ghost Town.
“When I was 23 years old, I bought a swamp,” said Gordon, beginning what was likely a tale told many times.
He and his wife, Ethel, spent several years literally creating their home and business from the ground up, bringing in 25,000 truckloads of rock and silt. In the beginning, the hotel complex started as seven rooms and a coffee shop, but over the years, as the money came in, the Bells continued to build. Today, the resort boasts 200 rooms, the only covered railway roundhouse with a turntable for rotating locomotives in western Canada, an enviable antique car collection, a museum and a ghost town of recovered heritage buildings from around B.C.
Sadly, Gordon passed away in 2007, but his legacy lives on. Ethel still oversees much of the daily business and their children and grandchildren all take an active part in keeping the resort running and honouring Gordon’s passion for history and for this amazing part of the world. And when I visited Three Valley Lake Chateau, I couldn’t help but be struck by the idea that this man who worked so hard to preserve and celebrate history became a part of history in the process.
When my own children and I prowled the halls of the hotel complex, I thought to myself that it was very much what I had hoped it would be when I was a child. The hallways have an almost maze-like quality to them, so trying to get from one end to the other can mean climbing stairs, walking over indoor solariums, through an unused billiards room, a well-stocked gift shop and a restaurant with panoramic views of the garden, the lake and the incredible valley. We took a turn through Ethel’s pet project, the garden, featuring a memorial to Gordon as well as a bounty of blossoms. The garden—surrounded on three sides by the hotel and set along the shore of Three Valley Lake—has numerous criss-crossing paths that go over streams and fish ponds. During peak season in the summer, several bus tours stop at the chateau and visitors from around the world wander through the garden, taking in 50 years of dedication set against the backdrop of the Monashee Mountains.
The ghost town, museum and roundhouse are the highlights of the resort. The buildings that Gordon brought from across B.C. have been lovingly restored and stocked with authentic artifacts from B.C.’s history, including the three-storey Sicamous Hotel. It’s possible to spend hours walking through the village created by Gordon and his family even before entering the roundhouse, where dozens of old steam locomotives, furnished train cars and antique automobiles are displayed.
The resort is 18 kilometres west of Revelstoke and 10 kilometres east of the Enchanted Forest and Skytrek Adventure Park—two places my children are already haranguing me to take them to again. And they'll get their way. One of the great things about being an adult is I now get to enjoy the places that inspired so much curiousity in the younger me on long drives through the mountains.
For more information see www.3valleygapheritageghosttown.com. To read more about Tanya's trip to Skytrek Adventure Park, see http://www.rvwest.com/travellingwithtanya/10_08.php
