For over a hundred years, Canada and the United States have collaborated to keep a 6 metre wide clear-cut line stretching the length of the international border between countries. This might be straight-forward in the central prairies but not so in the mountainous areas of BC for example.
Aside from the ‘line’, there are also around 5,528 boundary ‘monuments’ stretching the roughly 5000km of land border. Each one is numbered and as expected, many are incredibly remote. It makes for an interesting adventure to hike and find (collect if you will) these boundary monuments as many are findable off hiking trails that approach the international border.
Monument # 1
Starting at the western edge of the country, the first monument has a park built around it (Monument Park). It can be found south of Delta, BC on the border with Point Roberts.
Monument #32
There are dozens of minor monuments and some numbered ones along 0 Ave in Abbotsford, BC.
Monument # 74
There is an offshoot of the Skyline II trail in E.C. Manning provincial park called Hozomeen Ridge Trail. It is quite the endeavour to venture the length of this trail but it eventually ends up at the US border at the base of the incredible Hozomeen Mountains.
Monument # 78
Another one in E.C. Manning Park has a trail named after the monument (guess where the end of the trail is!)
Monument # 83
Following the border east, we are still in E.C. Manning Park. A trail leads to the border where there is a mountain peak appropriately named Monument 83 Peak. There are two firewatch towers, one on each side of the border.
Monument # 111
This is near the top of Barber Mountain near Nighthawk Crossing west of Osoyoos, BC
Monument # 116
Right at the Osoyoos-Oroville border crossing
Monument # 121
Not my picture but apparently it is possible to bushwhack to this monument from the American side
Monument # 140
Not as obvious to find as # 141 but this is a short detour off the Midway hiking trails.
Monument # 141
One of the Midway hiking trails leads up to this monument at the US border.
Monument # 142
This one is accessible as a bit of bushwhack near the Midway hiking trails south of town
Monument # 143
Near the border crossing south of Midway, BC. It is up on a hill and some hiking is required. It can be seen near the highway at the bottom of the hill.
Monument # 154
Near the border crossing at Grand Forks, BC
Monument # ???
There are two monuments on the border between Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the States. We hiked to this once from Waterton on the Lakeshore Trail. You can camp near the border at Border Bay Backcountry Campground.
Monument # ???
There is a monument at the West Poplar border crossing in Saskatchewan. We had to take a friend for a ‘border-run’ a number of years back. To round out the trip we spent some time exploring the nearby Killdeer Badlands.
Monument # 835
3 km E of Emerson, Manitoba. Some info here from some other monument adventurers – https://www.jidanni.org/geo/us_can1994/index.html
Monument # 903
Sprague area, Manitoba. https://www.jidanni.org/geo/us_can1994/index.html
Moving East, I haven’t really figured out how the monument numbering system works. There are a bunch of hikable monuments in Quebec for example but they are numbered in the 300-500 range. Of course some of the first ever monuments were erected in the east so it doesn’t look like there is an obvious #1 in BC and something in the thousands at the east.
