Country Canada Incorporated 1966 Postal code span V0J 2C0 Elevation 700 m Population 3,507 (2011) Province British Columbia | Regional District Fraser-Fort George Time zone PST (UTC-8) Area code(s) 250 / 778 / 236 Area 159.1 km² Local time Thursday 11:03 PM Number of airports 1 | |
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Weather -2°C, Wind S at 11 km/h, 69% Humidity | ||
Mackenzie is a district municipality within the Fraser-Fort George Regional District in central British Columbia, Canada. The community is located at the south end of Williston Lake. The townsite, established by Alexandra Forest Industries (acquired by BC Forest Products in 1967) and Cattermole Timber (partnered with Jujo Paper in 1970 to create Finlay Forest Industries), was named for Sir Alexander MacKenzie (1764–1820). Mackenzie's main industries are logging, lumber, market pulp and tourism. Duz Cho Logging, sawmills, such as the Canfor Corporation Mackenzie sawmill (successor to BCFP's lumber division) and Conifex Timber, (successor to FFI) and the Paper Excellence kraft pulp mill (successor to BCFP's pulp division), are major employers in town. The addition of Thompson Creek Metals Mount Milligan copper-gold operation is a major new asset to the town.
Contents
- Map of Mackenzie BC Canada
- Recreation
- Community facilities
- Transportation
- Tourist attractions
- Famous people from Mackenzie
- Climate
- References
Map of Mackenzie, BC, Canada
Recreation
Mackenzie is a destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts. In the winter, Mackenzie hosts dog sled racing, cross-country skiing, and snowmobiling competitions. Morfee Mountain overlooks Mackenzie and is a popular destination for local hiking and an off-road vehicle destination. Mackenzie has a swimming pool, indoor and outdoor skating rinks, a curling rink, and two developed beaches on Morfee Lake; First Beach is used primarily for recreational swimming, and Second Beach includes a boat launch. Mackenzie has a ski hill just east of the main town and is 45 minutes away from Powder King ski resort as well as Little Mac a small hill in town. Several lakes that are great for fishing spots.
Mackenzie Golf and Country Club is a challenging, semi-private, nine-hole golf course with a driving range and is within walking distance of most of the town, including the RV park.
Community facilities
Community facilities include a recreation centre that houses the public library, gym, pool, curling rink and ice rink. There is also an art centre, a museum, two shopping malls and two schools: Mackenzie Secondary School (which also serves McLeod Lake), and Morfee Elementary School. The schools are operated by the Prince George School District (No. 57).
Mackenzie also has several religious establishments, including a Sikh temple, St. Peter's Catholic, Mackenzie Baptist and Hope Trinity (converging the Anglican, Lutheran and United faiths) churches and Living Joy Christian Centre.
Mackenzie has two local media: the Mackenzie Times publishes a weekly local-interest newspaper and CHMM-FM has operated a not-for-profit radio station since 2003.
Mackenzie has its own Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment, a volunteer fire department and a municipal hospital.
Transportation
MacKenzie is located on Highway 39, 28 kilometres from Highway 97. There is scheduled bus service to Chetwynd and Prince George. It is served by a small airport. There is no scheduled passenger service but charter services are available.
Tourist attractions
Mackenzie is less than 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Williston Lake reservoir, the largest man-made lake in British Columbia. Mackenzie is also home of the world's largest tree crusher.
Famous people from Mackenzie
Climate
Mackenzie has a subarctic climate that has influences from the Pacific Ocean resulting in less cold winters than expected for its northerly latitude compared to other Canadian locations. It has warm summer days, but the cool nights ensure that only three months go above 10 °C (50 °F) in mean temperatures. Winters are very cold on occasion, although relatively short for a subarctic climate with a January mean of −9.2 °C (15.4 °F) as the coldest month.