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Into the void
To really get away from the crowds on your holidays, follow Johnnie Bachusky and chase down the phantoms of towns past

I BELONG TO A SHADOWY clan of eccentrics. Every year, we log thousands of kilometres along remote backroads in pursuit of ghost towns. Visiting these onceprosperous communities, which usually fade from maps because of economic bust or rural depopulation, gives me an opportunity to see history reflected in grain-elevator ruins, false-fronted stores and abandoned main streets. This list is only a snapshot — there are towns throughout the country for everyone to discover, whether you’re a serious explorer or curious tourist. Use the internet to find them, but remember: take only photos. Ghosts don’t like being disturbed.

Phoenix, B.C.
When I gaze at the enormous mountainside copper-mining scar that was once Phoenix, it’s hard to believe that this place, at 1,411 metres above sea level, used to be called Canada’s “highest city.” It had more than 4,000 residents before its post-First World War bust, but only a cenotaph and cemetery remain.
• Eight kilometres east of Greenwood off Highway 3.

Sandon, B.C.
In the 1890s, Sandon was the heart of Canada’s Wild West, a silvermining community of more than 5,000 wild-eyed dreamers. There were dozens of hotels and bars and a bustling red-light district. Scores of original buildings still stand, including the restored city hall.
• Just south of Highway 31A, northwest of Kaslo.

Mountain Park, Alta.
Whenever I camp at Mountain Park, the alpine beauty of the front range of the Rockies is jaw-dropping. Mountain Park was the jewel of Alberta’s “coal branch,” a coal mining region that’s home to ghost towns such as Mercoal, Coalspur and Coal Valley. The cemetery remains, along with commemorative markers which guide visitors.
• Twelve kilometres south of Cadomin and 60 kilometres south of Highway 16.

Robsart, Sask.
Arguably the most photogenic ghost town in Canada, Robsart has it all: derelict buildings, houses and a hospital, and a main street that serves up rolling tumbleweeds. Robsart died during the Great Depression, like other towns along the province’s socalled Ghost Town Trail.
• Just off Highway 13 in deep southwest Saskatchewan.

Bents, Sask.
I love Bents because it still has a classic prairie symbol of past prosperity: a grain elevator, which stands sentinel over its overgrown main street. Among the abandoned buildings in Bents is the general store, a classic example of false-fronted pioneer architecture.
• In west-central Saskatchewan, about 25 kilometres north of Highway 7.

CFB Rivers, Man.
Visitors can walk along the still-intact street system of CFB Rivers, which was decommissioned in 1971. You’ll see Second World War-era arch-style airplane hangars, administrative buildings, several PMQs (personal married quarters) and the airfield. The former base is now privately owned and permission to enter should be obtained at the on-site agriculture office.
• Seven kilometres west of the town of Rivers.

Depot Harbour, Ont.
Looking west over Georgian Bay, Depot Harbour retains an evocative quality of its former self, according to Ontario ghost towner Jeri Danyleyko. “It must have been a beautiful place to live,” she says. Located on Parry Island in Lake Huron, Depot Harbour, founded in 1899, was once a vital rail centre. The townsite is largely gone, but many foundations can be explored.
• About 10 kilometres west of Parry Sound.

Balaclava, Ont.
Balaclava has been described as Ontario’s picture perfect ghost town and a classic example of the province’s pioneer sawmill communities. The mill opened in 1855, but Balaclava was ignored by railways and the mill closed in 1967. The town features the ruins of a blacksmith shop and general store and an abandoned waterpowered sawmill, one of the last to operate in the province.
• On Highway 513, about 30 kilometres southwest of Renfrew.

Val-Jalbert, Que.
North America has many ghost town-themed parks, but Val-Jalbert is considered to be the most well preserved. Dominated by the 72-metre-high Chute Ouiatchouan, Val-Jalbert is a tourist attraction in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac Saint-Jean region. Founded in the early 1900s as a pulp-and-paper mill town, the mill closed in 1927 and residents left in droves. Half the town was gone within three years. In 1960, Val-Jalbert became a park, complete with the old mill, a convent, general store and many well-preserved homes.
• Off the west shore of Lac Saint-Jean, just southwest of Route 169.

Ireland’s Eye, N.L.
This village was one of more than 300 coastline fishing communities abandoned during mid-20th-century government resettlement programs. The site is on an island that can only be accessed by boat. Ireland’s Eye, along with other nearby “ghostline” communities such as British Harbour and Kerley’s Harbour, offers a haunting look into Atlantic Canada’s past.
• A 40-minute boat ride from Old Bonaventure, 90 kilometres east of Highway 1.

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