Managing and maintaining a park the size of the Kimberley Nature Park is a huge endeavour, and driven by volunteers with a passion for the park.
The Kimberley Nature Park Society a registered non-profit organization has been working for many years to see the Park legally established. Society volunteers have maintained the extensive trail network, produced trail guides, and installed signage throughout the area.
In addition to the 800 hectare Nature Park itself, the KNPS also co-manages the Horse Barn Valley Interpretive Forest.
Located on the west side of the Nature Park, Horse Barn Valley sits at an elevation of 1370 metres (4,495 feet) and faces south over the St. Mary River watershed.
Horse Barn Valley is not in the park, but was designated an Interpretive Forest by the provincial government, and as such a committee of the Nature Park Society oversees the area.
Struan Robertson is the chair of that committee and has spent many hours in Horse Barn Valley. Robertson is currently heading up an effort to install signage in the valley.
“We thought... it’s an interpretive forest, why don’t we interpret it a bit?”
With the assistance of a grant from the Columbia Basin Trust, volunteers are currently installing posts to hold interpretive signage, explaining the valley’s history, flora and fauna.
Signs will be attached as soon as all the posts are in. If you are a Park hiker and would like to help with the project, contact Robertson, struan.r@shaw.ca.