Boat Encampment is a ghost town in the East Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada.

[6][7] After the highway was opened, the bridge location assumed the name and was chosen for viewing purposes as the site for the 1953 cairn and plaque.

In 1973, the historic marker was relocated when the enlarged Kinbasket Lake formed the Mica Dam reservoir.

[6] When David Thompson of the fur trading North West Company (NWC) attempted his usual westward crossing of the Continental Divide via the Howse Pass in September 1810, the hostile Piegan Blackfeet blocked his passage, forcing his party to divert northward to the uncharted Athabasca Pass.

The remainder continued upstream on the Columbia, but further discontent prompted a return to Boat Encampment, where they built a cabin for the winter.

[11] They split cedar into thin boards because the preferred birch bark lacked thickness.

Gradually, the eastern terminus moved westward, having a final location in the vicinity of Henry House.

[18] On one occasion, having waited 39 days, the eastbound were about to return down the river, when word was received of the westbound imminent arrival.

[38] A subsidized ferry was established in 1910[39] to connect the Big Bend with Tête Jaune via the Canoe River shore.

[43] Although completed in late 1939,[44] the official opening ceremony for the highway was held at the Boat Encampment bridge in June 1940.