Gardens & Parks

Enjoy a stroll through a Kootenay Rockies garden…

Columbia Valley Botanical Gardens – INVERMERE:
Three acres of botanical gardens with plantings of heritage perennials, vegetable gardens, native plants, composting centre and first nation’s food plants. Enjoy the self-guided trail network that follows around Pynelogs Cultural Centre and Dorothy Lake. Complete with a viewpoint to see Painted Turtles basking on logs in the sun.

Cominco Gardens – KIMBERLEY:
Take a scenic stroll through Cominco Gardens where 45,000 flowers bloom each year! The 2 1/2 acres, filled with different varieties of flowers is minutes from the downtown Platzl.

Heritage Gardens – FORT STEELE HERITAGE TOWN:
Stroll through town and enjoy the many gardens beautifying Fort Steele and reflecting the importance of home grown food. A variety of heritage plants are grown which were commonly found in family gardens prior to modern conveniences such as grocery stores. Stop and smell the roses in one of our breathtaking flower gardens.

Kohan Reflection Garden – NEW DENVER: This beautiful public Japanese-style garden in New Denver was established in 1989. The serene lakeside ground honour the Japanese Canadians relocated to the BC Interior in 1942. Open year-round; entrance is by donation.

Millennium Park – CRESTON: This park features walkways, one-of-a-kind wooden benches and an amphitheatre, often used for musical and theatrical productions during the summer. One of the park’s most striking features is the Japanese Garden which was developed as a result to a donation from Creston’s Japanese Sister City: Kaminoho.

Nelson Lakeside Park
The gardens of Lakeside Park offer a magnificent show of annuals. Sculpture by Nelson artist, John McKinnon, augments the landscape design. A waterfront pathway and an antique Streetcar #23 connect the park with the city wharf to the south.

Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre Gardens – NEW DENVER:
The commemorative gardens have been created by master gardner and former internee, Mr. Roy Sumi. It contains original internment shacks and a large hand carved Buddhist shrine that was built by a temple carpenter during the war. A project of the Kyowakai Society, formed by New Denver internees in 1943 to deal with the impact of their incarceration. The Centre continues to serve the ongoing needs of the local Nikkei community.
Kohan Reflection Garden
Heiwa Teien Peace Garden

Spicer Japanese Gardens – NAKUSP:
These gardens celebrate the Japanese Canadian community. Native plants such as kinnickannick, hazelnut, pine and jupiter form the basis of this unique meditative space in Nakusp’s Waterfront Park.