Area A and Area B are where the South Kootenay gets a little more rural, a little more rugged and, depending on your definition of “civilized,” possibly a little more interesting. Stretching through the valleys, forests and mountains around the Columbia River, these two rural electoral areas are home to places with names like Oasis, Casino, Sheep Creek, Blackjack, Genelle and Rivervale — names that sound like they were invented for a Western, but are very much real places. Area A runs from the Columbia River to the U.S. border and up toward Champion Lakes Provincial Park, while Area B/Lower Columbia–Old Glory follows the Columbia west toward Santa Rosa Summit.

There are no giant resort developments or endless rows of vacation condos here. Instead, you get farms, forests, rivers, lakes, backroads, old mining country and the kind of outdoor recreation that tends to come with having a lot of mountains and relatively few people. The area is part of the broader South Kootenay, where Rossland’s mountain culture meets the Columbia Valley and the smaller rural communities in between. In other words: less polished, more wild and lots to explore.