Sicamous | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Sicamous

Sicamous, British Columbia, incorporated as a district municipality in 1989, population 2,429 (2016 census), 2,441 (2011 census). The District of Sicamous is located at the eastern end of Shuswap Lake in south-central British Columbia, 140 km east of Kamloops. It lies to the west of the Monashee Mountains on a narrow strip of land between Shuswap and Mara lakes. Its name derives from a Secwepemc First Nation word meaning “narrow” or “squeezed in the middle.” (See also Interior Salish.)

History and Economy

Sicamous is on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) main line and is at the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 97, which leads south to the Okanagan Valley. Tourism and the beaches and resorts on the lakes are mainstays of the local economy. Sicamous promotes itself as the “Houseboat Capital of Canada.” There is also some lumbering and agriculture. Attractions in the area are First Nations pictographs along the shores of the lakes, and Craigellachie station, 25 km east, where the “last spike” of the CPR was driven.