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British Columbia Museum of Mining
Categories: Public Services & Government Landmarks & Historical Buildings Local Flavour Landmarks & Historical Buildings, Local Flavour [Edit]
Sea to Sky Highway, 99, NorthBritannia Beach, BC V0N 1J0
(800) 896-4044
One review for British Columbia Museum of Mining
1 review in English
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Review from Jen K.
8/11/2008 2 photos
Every time I have one of those days in the office when I think things are tough and boo-hoo, poor me, I think back to our visit to the BC Museum of Mining. The tour through the mine reminded me that (a) there are way worse jobs in the world [1], and (b) at least my job won't literally kill me. When they demonstrated the evolution of different drills with names like the widow-maker, the only differentiation was this one will kill you quick (recoil) or slow (inhalation of toxic fumes).
It isn't all doom and gloom and it was pretty interesting stuff. The mine was in operation from 1904 - 1974 churning out tons of copper ore. You can take an underground tour, complete with hard hats, of the mine and there is an area outside to pan for gold and specks of precious gems. Both were a huge hit with the kids. I was more awestruck by the mill with all the levels and almost vertical tracks to transport the ore (cue childhood nightmares of runaway trains).
And there is a little bit of Hollywood magic here since the underground mine, mill and historic village have been used in over 50 movies and TV shows (Insomnia, MacGyver, Double Jeopardy, Scooby Doo Two, Smallville, The X Files, Dark Angel). They have autographed photos of the stars in the Chatterbox gift shop alongside minerals, rocks, fossils and jewelry for sale. The museum is located between Vancouver and Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway, so it was a perfect spot to stop on our drive to Whistler.
[1] The entry level job for every miner was to haul the portable crapper around the mine. That way they learned the tunnel system and met all of the miners.
