Kootenay's Marble Canyon was devastated by a fire, that burned for 40 days after a lightning strike in July2003. Smoke from these fires were responsible for the smoky skies we experienced on our last trip in Aug/sept 2003 and we were unable to visit this area. It also prevented us from doing much in Banff as the smoke rolled in and we decided to move away from the area, so it was nice to be able to come back and explore a little more this time
None of the Seven bridges that cross the Tokumm Creek were destroyed by the fire, but more than 17,000 hectares of forest burnt. and the Canyon was closed for safety reasons. new posts to support the guard rails had to be dug and at times the canyon is over 60 metres deep.
On August30th 2007 the canyon was reopened to the public, just two days before we arrived!
Already wild flowers and squirrels have returned.
A 1.6 Km Interpretive trail leads up to the thundering waters of the creek.
