Do you love exploring small towns in BC? It’s time to put the abandoned town of Anyox on your map, aka “the town that got lost,” according to Northern BC Jet Boat Tours.
Situated near Alaska’s Misty Fjords National Park and BC’s Great Bear Rainforest, Anyox is abundant in wildlife and historical remnants that tell the story of this former copper mining town, which doubles as one of Canada’s most iconic and remote ghost towns, according to its website.
History of Anyox
In the early 20th century, its location afforded it tons of copper and other precious metals. The town’s website states that hydroelectric facilities were first constructed in 1910 on Anyox Creek to support the adjacent Hidden Creek drainage basin’s mining and smelting industries. As a result, a large dam, powerhouse, and pipelines were all built to provide electricity to the village.
Photo via City of Vancouver Archives
By 1914, the population had skyrocketed to 2,500 residents, making Anyox one of the largest towns in the province at the time, according to Northern BC Jet Boat Tours.
The Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting, and Power Co brought the town electricity, running water, and “all the amenities a town could need,” including schools, a hospital, and even a movie theatre.
Photo via Anyox Hydroelectric Corporation
According to the University of British Columbia Library, one of the town’s first settlers proclaimed that “Anyox was born quietly but she went out with a bang — or at least the bang heralded the end.”
That “bang” might have very well been the Great Depression of the 1930s, which led the mine to shut down in 1935. A decade later, in 1946, a massive forest fire swept through the region, leaving behind only the major concrete and steel structures left standing today.
Photo via Anyox Hydroelectric Corporation
Today, Anyox is privately owned, with the restoration of the Anyox Dam underway. But that doesn’t mean you can’t step foot into this historic ‘ghost town!’ President at Anyox Hydro Electric Corp, Jeff Wolrige, shares with me that they offer “Ghost Town Tours” of the Observatory inlet and its two terminal arms, Hastings Arm and Alice Arm—another former mining town in the area.
“Each year we bring in groups of up to 10 people,” he explains. “[The tours] have grown steadily in popularity.”
Restoration alongside the Nisga’a Nation
For thousands of years before the settlement of the Nass Valley, the Nisga’a First Nation called Anyox (Gits’oohl) home, utilizing the area as a summer harvesting grounds for its vast populations of fish and wildlife. According to Wolrige, the Anyox Hydro Electric Corp is working side-by-side with Nisga’a partners to bring back the long-abandoned Hydroelectric Dam facility as an electrical utility.
“I’ve been working and fishing up in the Anyox/Alice Arm area since the early 1990s, and have had the privilege of working with and getting to know many of the Nisga’a elders along the way, many of whom are now deceased,” he explains. “It is an amazing history that continues to evolve in [a] very positive way.”
Present-day exploring
In terms of tourism opportunities, Wolrige says that in addition to select “ghost tours” via Northern BC Jet Boat Tours, there will soon be guest homes available for rent at the nearby Alice Arm Lodge, providing those visiting with access to one of the most diverse estuaries inBCC, in addition to access to Anyox.
“We are going to be offering three, five and seven-day stays for wildlife aficionados and birders. It is a flyway for migratory birds and home to most of BC’s wild animals except caribou.”
So if you’re craving a road trip to somewhere remote but with no shortage of exploration opportunities, Anyox and Alice Arm sound like a great duo to hit on your next adventure.