FORMER MINING TOWN NOW A HIDDEN GEM
It’s a small Vancouver Island community with a very large history.
Cumberland, in the Comox Valley, is home to about 3,750 full-time residents and is part of Vancouver Island’s growing reputation for both outdoor and culinary adventure.
This hidden gem of a village — a booming coal mining town in 1897 that almost became a ghost town when the mines closed in the 1960s — sits 10-20 minutes down the road from its betterknown big sisters Courtenay and Comox, and just 15 minutes from the Strait of Georgia.
Five kilometres from the sandy beaches of Comox Lake (and Cumberland Lake Park campground), Cumberland is known as a mecca for mountain biking, hosting top-tier races on 80-plus kilometres of trails.
But it also celebrates its history, which includes devastating mine explosions, contentious labour disputes, and early Chinese and Japanese worker settlements.
And while becoming a hub for entrepreneurs — video game developers, graphic designers and local businesses including Cumberland Brewing Co., Dark Side Chocolates, and locally sourced cafes and restaurants — increasing tourism may be its future.
“When people come into the recreation centre, we ask: ‘Are you visiting or new to the area?’ ” says Leah Knutson, Cumberland’s manager of recreation. “Fifty per cent are visitors, and we say, ‘watch out, you’re going to end up living here.’ ”
Knutson and her husband both lived in Calgary and were attracted to Cumberland because of the active, outdoor lifestyle, including surfing, paddleboarding, fishing on the lake or ocean, rock climbing, or skiing at Mount Washington and mountain biking.
The village, Knutson says, is also becoming known for spirited fundraising, buying forest from logging companies to create the 110-hectare Cumberland Community Forest. There are walking tours of historic mine sites and Chinese and Japanese settlements, with the community forest bordering the 16-hectare (40-acre) Coal Creek Historic Park.
Heather McEachen, of Tourism Vancouver Island, says the whole island continues to draw tourists.
Vancouver Island’s top markets are B.C. residents and Alberta, and while tourists come for wildlife (whales to grizzly bears), beach vacations and outdoor hiking and adventure, and a burgeoning culinary and food scene, McEachen says a large number are visiting family and friends.