Sometimes the past hides in plain sight.

When we first started exploring old trails, forgotten rail grades, and abandoned places across British Columbia, there were many times we had no idea we were standing in the middle of a ghost town… until we went home and started researching what we had found.

A few old timbers in the forest.
A strange clearing.
A cluster of lilac bushes blooming where no house stands anymore.

These small clues are often the only things left behind when a once thriving community disappears.

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we share 10 signs that you might be standing in a ghost town — from hidden foundations and rusted relics to the plants and patterns in the landscape that quietly mark where people once lived, worked, and built their lives.

If you love exploring forgotten places, old mining camps, railway towns, and historic trails, these signs may help you see the landscape a little differently on your next adventure.

Because sometimes… history isn’t in a museum.

Sometimes it’s right beneath your feet.

Stay curious. Stay adventurous.

🎙️ The Rise & Fall of the B.C. Copper Company Smelter | Greenwood BC History

The history of Greenwood, British Columbia is deeply rooted in mining — and few places represent that historic legacy more than the B.C. Copper Company Smelter.

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we explore the historic remains of the B.C. Copper Company Smelter in Anaconda, just south of Greenwood, BC. Built in 1901 to process ore from the nearby Mother Lode Mine — one of the richest copper mines in Boundary Country — this massive industrial site became the heart of Greenwood’s mining boom.

At its peak, the smelter operated 24 hours a day and processed more than 210,000 tonnes of ore annually. Its towering 36-metre brick smokestack, constructed from nearly 250,000 bricks, was the tallest in the province at the time and remains one of the most recognizable historic landmarks in Greenwood today.

We share drone footage over the historic slag pile, explore the massive bell-shaped slag pots known as “Hell’s Bells,” walk the foundations of the original smelter and mill site, and examine the rusted remains of mining and milling equipment, including a ball mill. Historic photographs bring the site back to life, showing Greenwood’s copper mining industry during its most prosperous years.

Walking the slag pile today feels like stepping onto another world — a hardened reminder of the copper mine operations and industrial ambition that helped shape this region of British Columbia.

This episode is part of our ongoing exploration of Boundary Country history, including previous episodes on the ghost town of Phoenix and historic Greenwood — Canada’s smallest incorporated city with a rich mining past.

The fire may be gone.
But the history remains.

We gratefully acknowledge BC Archives, Boundary Heritage, Greenwood Museum, Canadian West Magazine (Issue #1, “Historic Greenwood” by T.W. Paterson), and Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of the Boundary Country by Garnet Basque.

A heartfelt thank you as well to our community on Facebook, Instagram, and our YouTube subscribers who continue to share memories, historic photographs, and local mining history with us.

Research & Archival Credits

Join us Friday Feb 20 to hear about the historic BC Copper Company Smelter. Here is a short promo

Greenwood, British Columbia was once known as the “City of Tomorrow.” In the late 1890s, this small Boundary Country community was booming with banks, hotels, churches, and rapid construction along Copper Street.

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we explore Greenwood’s explosive growth, devastating fires, the historic courthouse, the post office built on the Pioneer Hotel site, and the city’s first recorded murder in 1900.

Today, Greenwood holds the title of Canada’s Smallest Incorporated City — but its history is anything but small.

New episodes every Friday.

Greenwood, British Columbia didn’t appear overnight.

In this opening episode of a multi-part series, Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales explores how Greenwood rose from wilderness into one of the Boundary Country’s most important early mining communities.

This episode sets the stage — the land, early trails, first settlements, and the conditions that made Greenwood possible. In the episodes that follow, we’ll dive deeper into the people, industries, fires, boom years, and defining moments that shaped Canada’s smallest incorporated city.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who shared personal stories and historical photos that helped bring this series to life.

🎙️ New episodes every Friday
📍 British Columbia history, ghost towns, and forgotten places

Phoenix, British Columbia was once known as Canada’s highest city — a booming copper mining town with hotels, churches, hockey teams, and thousands of residents.

When the mines closed in 1919, Phoenix emptied almost overnight.

Most people left.
Three men stayed.

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we share the haunting true story of the Three Bachelors of Phoenix BC — Robert “Bob” Denzler, Adolph “Forepaw” Sercu, and William Henry Bambury — the final residents of a town that refused to die quietly.

From Forepaw’s self-appointed role as mayor and lawman of an abandoned city, to Bambury’s diary describing sinking buildings and rising water, this episode explores what happened after everyone else walked away.

Today, Phoenix exists as a flooded open-pit mine, marked only by a cenotaph, cemetery, and scattered remnants of a once-thriving community.

This isn’t just the story of a ghost town —
it’s the story of the people who couldn’t let go.

🎙 Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales explores the lost places, hidden trails, and real stories of British Columbia — told where history happened.

👉 Follow the show for more BC ghost towns, mining history, and forgotten places.

Stay Curious. Stay Adventurous.

Canada’s Highest City… Gone Almost Overnight

High above British Columbia’s Boundary Country, a booming mining city once stood at 4,600 feet. Thousands of people lived here. Trains ran day and night. Copper poured out of the mountain. And then — almost overnight — it was gone.

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we explore the rise of Phoenix — once the highest incorporated city in Canada. Originally known as Greenwood Camp, Phoenix quickly grew into a modern mining city with railways, hotels, churches, schools, a hospital, and a thriving community built on copper.

Between 1909 and 1911, Phoenix shipped nearly half of all the crude copper mined in Canada. But after the First World War, falling copper prices and mine closures triggered a rapid and devastating collapse. Families packed up and left, many believing they would return.

They never did.

Today, all that remains of Phoenix is a First World War cenotaph, two historic graveyards, and a massive open pit carved into the mountain where a bustling city once stood.

🎧 This is Part 1 of our two-part series on Phoenix.
In Part 2, we tell the powerful story of the three men who stayed behind and lived on in a ghost town long after everyone else had gone.

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Have you ever heard of Pheonix British Columbia? This was once a booming copper mining city located in the mountains above Greenwood British Columbia in the Boundry Country. Now a ghost town, once upon a time 2000 residents and all the amenities a busy city would need. Hotels, Saloons, Brothels homes and of course mines. Many mines that are still accessible today. We dive into the history of this amazing place Called Pheonix. Noted as once the highest city in Canada. This will be a 2 part series with part 1 airing on January 23rd @ 5PM

Power built this town — but at what cost?

In this episode of Tracks, Trails & Forgotten Tales, we explore the life and legacy of John Carmichael Haynes, one of the most powerful figures in the early history of Osoyoos and the South Okanagan.

Arriving in British Columbia during the gold rush, Haynes rose quickly through the ranks as a constable, customs officer, magistrate, judge, and government agent. He helped establish early border control, enforced colonial law across vast regions, and built what became the largest ranch in the South Okanagan — earning the title “The Cattle King.”

But Haynes’ story is not a simple pioneer tale.

We examine how power, land, and colonial policy shaped the Okanagan, including the displacement of Indigenous peoples, reserve reductions, and the long-term consequences that still echo today. From the rise of cattle ranching as the region’s first major industry to the dramatic collapse of the Haynes Ranch after his death, this episode looks at the foundations — and the costs — of settlement.

This is a story of ambition, authority, and legacy — and why understanding it matters.

🎧 New episodes exploring British Columbia’s hidden history, lost places, and forgotten stories.

#trackstrailsandtales #exploringdirt #ghosttowns #bchistory #abandonedmines #explorebc #adventurepodcast#GoldRushEra#CattleRanching#ColonialHistory#IndigenousHistory#ForgottenHistory#TracksTrailsForgottenTales#goldrush#JohnCarmichaelHaynes#OsoyoosHistory#SouthOkanagan#BritishColumbiaHistory#HaynesRanch#CanadianHistory#historic#historicplaces#abandoned#bchistory#goldtrailsandghosttowns#johnhaynes#haynesranch#historylovers#historicplaces#goldrushjudges

Season 2 Episode 2 airs this week! Check out the trailer here!