MICA CREEK

MICA CREEK

Is a small community located on the northern side of Highway #23 and at the confluence of Mica Creek and the mighty Columbia River, 148 kilometers north of Revelstoke. Mica Creek’s (earlier known as Mica) originality came from the days of the Big Bend Gold Rush of the 1860s when it was an important boomtown for gold miners to either Fort Kamloops or east towards Alberta. Present-day Mica Creek was founded and used as a base of operations for BC Hydro’s construction for a hydroelectric power project at nearby Mica Dam in the 1960s and 1970s. After it was constructed in 1973, Mica Creek peaked to a population of about 4,000 people and had a swimming pool, ski lodge, church, banks, grocery store, high school, fire hall, police station, and post office. During the early 1980s, the population suddenly reduced most of the buildings that housed these important amenities were either bulldozed or shut down but most are still maintained in order provide accommodation for tourists who want to heli-ski or camp in the area. Mica Creek was moved to its existing location 500 meters from Columbia River to accommodate flooding which created Mica Dam’s reservoir; Revelstoke Dam. In 2005, the townsite became unincorporated after briefly being a village since it was born and is named after flakes of mica minerals that are found floating in the creek’s waters.

MICA CREEK’S POPULATION: 34