History

The Ministry has provided ferry service on this route since 1931. Previously the Canadian pacific Railway Company's Lakes and River Service ran a number of steam stern-wheelers between Kootenay landing, at the south end of the lake and Proctor on the Kootenay River about 24 km (15 miles) east of Nelson. In 1930 the CPR completed its railway between Proctor and Kootenay landing, making the steamers employed on this service redundant. The Ministry meanwhile had been gradually extending the road up the east side of the lake and subsequently chartered the Canadian Pacific stern-wheelers NASOOKIN to provide continuing service. The Ministry chartered the vessel from April 15, 1931 until February 1, 1933 at which time it bought the NASOOKIN.

The NASOOKIN plied betweeen Gray Creek on the east side of the lake and Fraser Landing on the west and remained on the route until 1947 when she was replaced by the newly built ANSCOMB. With the latter's commissioning the ferry terminals were moved to their present location at Balfour and at Kootenay Bay. This change cut the travel time in half. By 1954, increasing road traffic made it necessary to add a second ferry, the BALFOUR. The crossing time on this route is 40 minutes.

(Courtesy of: "Ministry of Transportation and Highways, Lake and River Ferries" by Frank A. Clapp, published by the Province of British Columbia)