Just a few kilometres north from the junction of Highways 3 & 95, the Village of Yahk is known today for its unique shops and an affinity for goats. Goats have been seen at the Yahk General Store and of course there is the Yahk Soap and Candle Company. Yahk Provincial Park, along the shores of the Moyie River, has 26 peaceful tenting sites.Yahk was said to be named from the Indian work “yaak,” meaning “bow” a name the Kootenay Indians applied to the Kootenay River which first flows south, then west, then north. By extension the word would be applied to the country contained within the “bow” of the Kootenay.

At the turn of the century Yahk was a bustling lumber town settled mainly by CPR-sponsored Norwegian and Swedish families who began arriving in the area in 1928. The rumour is that Yahk has more to its economic history than railroading and lumbering, especially from October 1st, 1917 through to June of 1921, when it became profitable to distile booze in southern B.C. and run it south. Yahk, in such close proximity to the Border, was a handy location for stills, and numerous caches of liquor which were said to be secreted in the vicinity awaiting shipment. Hundreds of thousands of dollars changed hands, much of it flowing through Yahk. Secret stashes are whispered to lie yet in these woods awaiting the return of long-gone smugglers.

See a bit of the historic Yahk and come and stay awhile, uncovering your own piece of history at one of the shops along the highway, and picnic at Yahk Provincial Park.