Cody Caves Park
Feature Type:Provincial Park - Legally defined land area, under provincial jurisdiction, for camping, outdoor recreation, and preservation of wildlife.
Status: Official
Name Authority: BC Geographical Names Office
Relative Location: Just above Ainsworth Hot Springs on W side Kootenay Lake, NE of Nelson, Kootenay Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 49°43'42"N, 116°57'07"W at the approximate centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 82F/10
Origin Notes and History:

Established per Order in Council 1708, 7 June 1966, containing 155 acres. Boundary described per OIC 1201/90 (date not cited). Conversion of OIC to Statute designation per Bill 15-2001: Protected Areas of British Columbia Amendment Act, 2001, 11 April 2001; the whole containing 63 ha. more or less. Boundary redescribed per Bill 50-2004: Parks and Protected Areas Statutes Amendment Act, 17 May 2004; the whole now containing approximately 49 hectares.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

After prospector and Kaslo resident Henry Cody (1861 -1921), who may have discovered the caves. See Cody (locality). The Nelson paper "The Weekly News", Saturday 4 October 1902, reprinted a lengthy article originally published in the November 1899 edition of "The Argosy", containing a description of the caves and of Ainsworth in 1880; the author, Mr. H.R.A. Popock, called this the Queen Victoria Cave.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office

"The Cody Caves near Ainsworth.... [are] amongst the biggest subterranean caverns in Canada..." (West Kootenay Sportsman's Guide, 1960, p.36)

Source: included with note