Kootenay Lake
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Kootenay Lake conditions today

The ferry, the roads, every camera around the lake, the weather at both ends, the lake level, wildfires and avalanche danger. Every panel shows how old its data is, so you can tell a current reading from a dead feed.

Updated Pacific Time.

Kootenay Lake ferry

24 min ago

From Balfour

4:30 pm

then 6:10 pm, 7:50 pm

From Kootenay Bay

5:20 pm

then 7:00 pm, 8:40 pm

M.V. Osprey 2000, 80 vehicles, 35-minute crossing. Free.

Full schedule, cameras and the new vessel

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Lake level

40 min ago

531.34 m

Above sea level at Queens Bay. Down 0 cm in 24 hours.

Lake level from the Water Survey of Canada, station 08NH064 Kootenay Lake at Queens Bay, under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

Roads

5 min ago

Incidents and construction

  • Highway 3A — Tree pruning from Highway 3A, Balfour Wharf Road to At Keiran Road. Starting Mon Oct 26 until Fri Oct 30. From 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM PDT, weekdays. Single lane alternating traffic. Last update: September 11th, 2026 at 9:59am PDT.
  • Highway 3 — Paving operations. Starting Mon Aug 10 until Tue Sep 29. From 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM MST, Monday to Saturday. Single lane alternating traffic. Watch for traffic control. Expect delays.
  • Other Roads — Paving operations. Starting Mon Aug 17 until Sat Oct 24. From 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM MST, Monday to Saturday. Single lane alternating traffic. Paving work on Wynndel side roads: Lower Wynndel Road, Crusher Road, Uri Road, Duck Creek S Road, Bossio Road, Wynndel Road, Hood Road, Westview Road, Cory Road.
  • Highway 6 — Road construction at Highway 6. Starting Mon Sep 14. Expect 15 minutes delay. Last update: September 10th, 2026 at 2:17pm PDT. Culvert Replacement along Hwy 6, Slocan Park.
  • Highway 3A — Road construction at Highway 3A. Starting Mon Sep 21. From 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM PDT, weekdays. Expect delay of 20 minutes. Last update: September 18th, 2026 at 5:23pm PDT.
  • Highway 3A — Utility work from Highway 3A, In Nelson to In Nelson. Starting Tue Sep 22 until Thu Sep 24. From 7:00 PM to 6:00 AM PDT the next day, Tuesday and Wednesday. Last update: September 17th, 2026 at 8:47am PDT.

Road events from DriveBC Open511.

Wildfires

5 min ago

Wildfire incidents from the BC Wildfire Service open data.

Nelson right now

6 min ago

24.4°C

Wind
9 km/h NE
Humidity
49%
Dew point
13°C
Snow depth
0 cm

Measured at NELSON CS, 536 m.

Weather data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

Creston right now

6 min ago

25.3°C

Wind
14 km/h S
Humidity
38%
Dew point
9.8°C
Snow depth
0 cm

Measured at CRESTON CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC, 642 m.

Weather data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

Nelson forecast

22 min ago

  • Today

    A few clouds

    —

    9°

  • Wednesday

    A mix of sun and cloud

    23°

    6°

  • Thursday

    A mix of sun and cloud

    22°

    12°

  • Friday

    Showers

    17°

    8°

  • Saturday

    A mix of sun and cloud

    17°

    7°

High and low in degrees Celsius, for the Nelson forecast region.

Weather data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

Creston forecast

23 min ago

  • Today

    A few clouds

    —

    11°

  • Wednesday

    A mix of sun and cloud

    23°

    9°

  • Thursday

    Sunny

    23°

    13°

  • Friday

    Showers

    18°

    9°

  • Saturday

    Cloudy

    16°

    5°

High and low in degrees Celsius, for the Creston forecast region.

Weather data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

Cameras around the lake

Balfour ferry terminal

5 min ago
Balfour Ferry Terminal, Balfour ferry terminal, looking north towards Highway 3A.

Balfour Ferry Terminal

Balfour ferry terminal, looking north towards Highway 3A.

DriveBC.ca

Balfour Ferry Ramp, Balfour ferry terminal, looking south at ferry loading ramp.

Balfour Ferry Ramp

Balfour ferry terminal, looking south at ferry loading ramp.

DriveBC.ca

Balfour Ferry Approach - SW, Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Balfour ferry terminal entrance of Ferry Landing Road, looking southwest.

Balfour Ferry Approach - SW

Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Balfour ferry terminal entrance of Ferry Landing Road, looking southwest.

DriveBC.ca

Balfour Ferry Approach - NE, Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Balfour ferry terminal entrance near Ferry Landing Road, looking northeast.

Balfour Ferry Approach - NE

Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Balfour ferry terminal entrance near Ferry Landing Road, looking northeast.

DriveBC.ca

Balfour Ferry Busk Road Parking, Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Busk Road near the Balfour ferry terminal, looking at ferry parking lot.

Balfour Ferry Busk Road Parking

Highway 3A and Highway 31 at Busk Road near the Balfour ferry terminal, looking at ferry parking lot.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Kootenay Bay ferry landing

5 min ago
Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing, Highway 3A at Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing, looking northeast.

Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing

Highway 3A at Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing, looking northeast.

DriveBC.ca

Kootenay Bay Ferry Ramp, Highway 3A at Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing, looking southwest.

Kootenay Bay Ferry Ramp

Highway 3A at Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing, looking southwest.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Highway 3A, Creston to the ferry

5 min ago
Sanca Creek, Highway 3A about 1.6 km south of Sanca Creek Bridge, looking south.

Sanca Creek

Highway 3A about 1.6 km south of Sanca Creek Bridge, looking south.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Highway 31, Balfour to Kaslo and north

5 min ago
Coffee Creek, Highway 31 about 45 km north of Nelson and 25 km south of Kaslo, looking north.

Coffee Creek

Highway 31 about 45 km north of Nelson and 25 km south of Kaslo, looking north.

DriveBC.ca

Cooper Creek, Highway 31 at Duncan Lake Road about 35 km north of Kaslo, looking south.

Cooper Creek

Highway 31 at Duncan Lake Road about 35 km north of Kaslo, looking south.

DriveBC.ca

Kaslo - N, Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking northbound.

Kaslo - N

Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking northbound.

DriveBC.ca

Kaslo - W, Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking westbound.

Kaslo - W

Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking westbound.

DriveBC.ca

Kaslo - S, Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking southbound.

Kaslo - S

Highway 31 at Highway 31A Junction in Kaslo, looking southbound.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Kootenay Pass, Highway 3

5 min ago
Kootenay Pass, Highway 3 at Salmo Creston Highway Summit, looking east.

Kootenay Pass

Highway 3 at Salmo Creston Highway Summit, looking east.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Highway 3, Creston and Salmo

5 min ago
Salmo, Highway 3 at Highway 6 junction, looking west on Highway 3.

Salmo

Highway 3 at Highway 6 junction, looking west on Highway 3.

DriveBC.ca

Creston - S, Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking south.

Creston - S

Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking south.

DriveBC.ca

Leadville Road, Highway 3 about 18 km east of Creston in Kitchener, looking east.

Leadville Road

Highway 3 about 18 km east of Creston in Kitchener, looking east.

DriveBC.ca

Meadows Junction, Highway 3 at Highway 3B junction looking westbound.

Meadows Junction

Highway 3 at Highway 3B junction looking westbound.

DriveBC.ca

Creston - N, Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking north.

Creston - N

Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking north.

DriveBC.ca

Creston - W, Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking west.

Creston - W

Highway 3 and Highway 3A junction in Creston, looking west.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Nelson

5 min ago
Nelson - S, Highway 6 near Highway 3A and Rosemont/Uphill interchange, looking south.

Nelson - S

Highway 6 near Highway 3A and Rosemont/Uphill interchange, looking south.

DriveBC.ca

Nelson - N, Highway 6 near Highway 3A and Rosemont/Uphill interchange, looking north.

Nelson - N

Highway 6 near Highway 3A and Rosemont/Uphill interchange, looking north.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Harrop cable ferry

5 min ago
Harrop Ferry Landing North View, Harrop Ferry Landing on south side of Kootenay Lake, looking at the north side landing.

Harrop Ferry Landing North View

Harrop Ferry Landing on south side of Kootenay Lake, looking at the north side landing.

DriveBC.ca

Harrop Ferry Landing northbound, Harrop Ferry Landing on the south side of Kootenay Lake, looking north.

Harrop Ferry Landing northbound

Harrop Ferry Landing on the south side of Kootenay Lake, looking north.

DriveBC.ca

Harrop Ferry North Landing, Harrop Ferry Landing northbound line-up, looking south.

Harrop Ferry North Landing

Harrop Ferry Landing northbound line-up, looking south.

DriveBC.ca

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit.

Where each number comes from

Every feed on this page is read every ten minutes and stored before it is shown, so a busy day here never puts load on the government services that provide it. The sailing times are the published timetable, not a live feed: the province does not broadcast departures, so the times are held as dated data and the live feed supplies the vessel, its capacity and any service alert.

When a source stops answering, its panel says so instead of showing an empty box. When a reading is old, the age sits on the panel in plain sight. A camera that has served the same picture for a day is hidden and named, because a frozen picture of an empty highway is worse than no picture at all.

See who runs this site and where every feed above comes from.

Common questions

Is the Kootenay Lake ferry running today?

Yes. The ferry runs every day of the year and the crossing takes 35 minutes. Free. The Kootenay Lake ferry is part of Highway 3A and the province charges nothing. On the winter timetable the first sailing leaves Balfour at 6:30 am and Kootenay Bay at 7:10 am, and the last leaves Balfour at 9:40 pm and Kootenay Bay at 10:20 pm. When DriveBC posts a service alert it appears in the ferry panel at the top of this page.

How often does this page update?

Every ten minutes. A scheduled job reads each feed, stores what it gets, and the page is built from the stored copy. Each panel carries the age of its own reading, so a source that has stopped reporting says so instead of showing an old number as though it were current.

Where does the data come from?

Camera images and ferry status from DriveBC.ca, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit. Road events from DriveBC Open511. Weather data from Environment and Climate Change Canada, used under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Lake level from the Water Survey of Canada, station 08NH064 Kootenay Lake at Queens Bay, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Wildfire incidents from the BC Wildfire Service open data. Avalanche forecast from Avalanche Canada.

Why does a camera say the picture has not changed?

Every camera picture is fingerprinted each time the feeds are read. When the same picture comes back for 2 hours the caption says so, and after 24 hours the camera is hidden and named under the grid. DriveBC leaves a camera switched on when its picture has frozen, so without that check a stopped camera would look live.

What time zone are the ferry times?

Sailing times are Pacific Time, the time in Balfour, Nelson and Kaslo. Creston and most of the East Shore keep Mountain Standard Time all year, which matches Pacific in summer and runs one hour ahead in winter.

The Kootenay Lake ferry in full · Ferry cameras · Every webcam on the lake

kootenaylake.org is an independent guide published by Delcaro Media in Kitchener, BC. It is not affiliated with Nelson Kootenay Lake Tourism, the Kootenay Lake Chamber of Commerce, the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit, Western Pacific Marine, BC Parks or any business listed on it.