Harrison Hot Springs

The Village of Harrison Hot Springs is a small community at the southern end of Harrison Lake in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. It is a member of the Fraser Valley Regional District; its immediate neighbour is the District of Kent and included in it, the town of Agassiz.

The Village of Harrison Hot Springs has been a small resort community since 1886, when the opening of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the lakeside springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental mainline. In its first promotion as a resort it was known as St. Alice's Well, although it had been discovered decades earlier when a party of goldfield-bound travellers on Harrison Lake capsized into what they thought was their doom, only to discover the lake at that spot was not freezing, but warm.

Although the resort flourished in a low-key fashion for years after this discovery was exploited by hoteliers, the Village of Harrison Hot Springs was not incorporated until 1949. It currently has a population of approximately 1,573 people. The village is known for its namesake hot springs, which are a major attraction for tourists who come to stay at the village's spa-resort. Harrison Hot Springs is also known for an international sandcastle building competition that takes place there annually in September, and for the summertime Harrison Festival of the Arts.

The hot springs themselves were originally used and revered by the Sts'Ailes (Chehalis) First Nations people who live along the Harrison River nearby. There are two hot springs, the "Potash", with a temperature of 40°C, and the "Sulphur", with a temperature of 65°C. According to Harrison Hot Springs Resort, the waters average 1300 ppm of dissolved mineral solids, one of the highest concentrations of any mineral spring. This hot spring is one of several lining the valley of the Lillooet River and Harrison Lake, with two others on the lake at Twenty Mile Bay and at Port Douglas, at the head of the lake.

This is also the place where visitors each year get to see the sand sculpture contest where people take building sand castles seriously and create works of art rather than the small beach sand castle. This has become one of the most famous events each year for the people that enter and the people that like to see the completed works of art.

This is just the beginning of why visitors go to Harrison Lake & Hot Springs; the other reasons are the relaxing atmosphere, the water for water sports and swimming, the fishing and the lake water. There is also a mineral hot springs, there is water skiing, wind surfing, sailing, horseback riding, and hiking for visitors to enjoy.

This is a day with something for every visitor to enjoy and have fun the fishing for the fisherman could not be better with the large catches that come out of the lake. There are areas to picnic; there are trails that can not only give great views of the Harrison Lake & Hot Springs, but also of the mountains that are the backdrop for the area. Visitors can also take a horseback ride on trails that will give them the panoramic views of the area and at the same time give them the thrill of doing it on horseback.