A one-time mining community that produced heaps of poor quality, smokeless coal for the Allied war effort during WWI, Pocahontas was once the largest settlement in Jasper National Park and home to hundreds of miners. When the market price for coal fell in 1921 the town slipped into a rapid decline, becoming a veritable ghost town nine years later when the 1930 National Parks Act banned mining in the park for good.
All that remains of Pocahontas today are some overgrown ruins, an antiquated superintendent’s home and a set of rather plush tourist facilities, otherwise known as the Pocahontas Cabins.
Visitors can amuse themselves on a 1km (0.6-mile) wheelchair-accessible interpretive trail that meanders around the old mining site, re-creating the days when the government encouraged resource extraction from the park in return for handsome royalties. To get here, take the Miette Hot Springs Rd off Hwy 16 and turn at the first right into the parking lot.
