Balfour, British Columbia
Balfour, also known as Balfour Bay, is an unincorporated community in British Columbia, located about northeast of the city of Nelson and located at the juncture of Kootenay Lake with its West Arm.
It is the location of the Kootenay Lake Ferry, which, at to Kootenay Bay, is said to be the longest toll-free vehicle ferry in the world. This marine link of the British Columbia highway system is made up of two vessels, MV Osprey 2000, the larger of the two ferries with an 80-car capacity operating year round, and MV Balfour, a 25-car ferry operating only in the summer.
Balfour was once the location of one of the Canadian Pacific's railway hotels, the Balfour Hotel, which served the needs of passengers travelling the Southern Mainline of the CPR. Passengers and freight were carried across the lake by the CPR's Lake and River Service vessel, SS Moyie, other vessels serving Kootenay Lake and also south up the Kootenay River to Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and up to Kaslo and other points northward on Kootenay Lake.
