Fort Nelson is a town of approximately 5000 residents in British Columbia's northeastern corner. It is the seat, and only municipality in the Northern Rockies Regional District. Fort Nelson is primarily a natural resource industry town, with the majority of economic activity in oil and gas and forestry. The forests surrounding Fort Nelson are part of Canada's great boreal forest. Fort Nelson is the centre of the Greater Sierra oil field.

The town lies east of the Northern Rocky Mountains in the Peace River region, along the Alaska Highway, where it is known as "Mile 300". Year round, the town is home to over 4,500 residents while 1,600 additional residents settle in the surrounding Northern Rockies Regional District area including the Fort Nelson First Nations reserve. There are about 500 members living on the reserve, yet across the region, as a whole, Aboriginal people make up approximately 15% of the total population.

The community also experiences seasonal population increases. In winter, logging and oil rig activities bring in another two to five thousand additional people. And during the summer tourism season -April through September- about 140,000 visitors travel through the area.

History

Fort Nelson was established as a trading post in 1805 by the North West Company. It was named in honour of Lord Horatio Nelson.

The Fort Nelson Airport was built in 1941 as part of the World War II Northwest Air Staging Route.

Attractions

• In Fort Nelson
• Fort Nelson Heritage Museum
• Canoeing down the Fort Nelson River
• Smith River Falls
• Wokkpash Recreation Area
• Canadian Open Sled Dog Races (in December)
• Fall Fair and Rodeo (in August)
• In the Northern Rockies
• Liard Hot Springs
• Northern Rocky Mountains Provincial Park
• Rafting on the Liard River
• Muncho Lake (of blue-green color, due to glacial flour)

On 18 June 2005 people in Fort Nelson held a water-balloon fight with over 40,000 water balloons being tossed in less than three minutes.

Geography

Fort Nelson lies at the confluence of Fort Nelson River (which took the name from the town), Muskwa River and Prophet River.

Climate

Infrastructure

Roads

The town is located along Highway 97 (Alaska Highway), south of the intersection with Highway 77.

Greyhound Canada operates a bus depot in the town.

Air

Fort Nelson is primarily served by the Fort Nelson Airport, with several smaller airstrips in close proximity:

• Fort Nelson/Gordon Field Airport
• Fort Nelson/Mobil Sierra Airport
• Fort Nelson (Parker Lake) Water Aerodrome

References

External links

• Northern Rockies Regional District & Town of Fort Nelson
• The Fort Nelson News - Local Newspaper