Perry Creek Rd
Cranbrook, BC

Sometimes the smallest wonders shine the brightest, even in the shadow of some of the most spectacular mountain scenery around. The Cranbrook area is blessed with a rolling carpet of wildflowers that slowly works its way from the open grasslands up through the forested meadows to a final, riotous display of colours and smells in the alpine sky meadows.

Perry Creek Rd
Cranbrook, BC

Flowers are more than just visually stunning natural wonders. They carry the power to transport us, trigger memories, or simply inspire fits of unreasonable excitement when the long Kootenay winter gives way and the first light purple Crocuses or strident pink Bitterroot flowers burst from the frozen ground.

East Kootenay, BC

Paintbrush and willowherb colour an alpine meadow under the watchful eye of the glaciers in the Purcell Mountains North of Cranbrook.

Wycliffe

Wycliffe, British Columbia, Canada

The event that brings out the locals and visitors alike is the arrival of the Balsamroot Sunflowers in early to mid-May. While there are reliably thousands of these giant, brilliant yellow blooms carpeting places like the Wycliffe Buttes and Sunflower Hill, some years things are just right and the entire valley floor is carpeted with a literal sunflower sea of yellow. Tread lightly and stick to existing trails and tracks if you do head out view grassland flowers. Grasslands are the most threatened and sensitive ecosystem in the region, and their thin soils are easily disturbed, allowing invasive species like Knapweed, Cinquefoil, and Blueweed to replace our gorgeous and critical native blooms.

Skookumchuck

Skookumchuck, British Columbia, Canada

The early-May Shooting Star show on the Skookumchuck Prairie is one of the first big wildflower shows around Cranbrook.

101 Kootenay Hwy
East Kootenay, BC

Cranbrook

Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

No matter where you find your flowers, tread carefully, and take only photos. Flowers contain the seeds of next year’s miracle, bear the fruits that might help our wild neighbors survive, or might be important traditional Ktunaxa medicine, so please do not pick wildflowers. Want to pick up a copy of the Ktunaxa Ethnobotany Handbook? They are available online, or at the Cranbrook Visitor Centre.