The Enchanted Forest — Attraction in Area E (Eagle River Valley)

Review Date: July 20th, 2015

It wouldn’t be an enchanted road trip in Canada without a stop at the Enchanted Forest!

In the months leading up to our trip, we made a list of things we would like to do. Our Canadian guide (my cousin’s wife) knew the route and mentioned many things to do along the way. The Enchanted Forest was one of the things we jotted down. Fast forward to us on the road and driving west; timing ended up working out great for us as we passed by Revelstoke during the afternoon. With that to our advantage, we pulled over to check out The Enchanted Forest.

Going in, I had no idea what to expect. Thoughts of fancy forests with fog and unicorns are what sprang to mind. A forest dedicated to fairy tales is not what I imagined. But that’s what the Enchanted Forest is. One dedicated to all those fairy tales we all hear as kids.

Parking was a bit of a pain as the lot was smaller and we stopped by during the peak tourist season, but we eventually found a place and headed in. Entry was around $12 or so but since it’s been awhile, please check their website for an accurate price. We all paid, grabbed maps and headed in.

As we paid and headed in, I couldn’t think that this was an actual place. It seemed like a fairy tale in of itself. A random forest dedicated to fairy tales and the like. But every step of the way just kept up that initial surprise. Every path and every turn lead to a small set up dedicated to some tale or some folk lore. Some I recognized, some I didn’t. Here and there, you would find poems or excerpts from the origins of what the displays were based on. That helped figure out where and what certain displays were.

Walking around, you can head whichever way you want and spend time with the displays, taking fun photos with most of them. You can’t interact with them for the most part, aside from the ones that are made to be touched. I remember there being a tree house kids could play in. I remember there being a big bunny chair you could sit in. There was a shoe house small kids could explore. The house that Goldilocks commits Breaking and Entering in is now a real place. Even if you aren’t a fan of tales and lore, this place is something to experience just for the sake of it is unique and unlike anything else I’ve experienced in my years of traveling. Also, the forests of Canada are a beauty of their own. You can browse the photos supplied below but you’d really need to see a video of it to get a good feel for the place.

About the only negative I would have to say about this place is that the age/quality of some of the sculptures are lacking. Some have that homemade look, which has a charm of it’s own but at the same time, weren’t crafted the best. Some of the other things looked like they needed a fresh coat of paint or some touch ups. I assume the forest vegetation/biome isn’t the greatest for these kinds of things. With that negative in mind, I am not docking this place for it as I think that it is also part of the charm in a weird way. It’s like you are seeing a labor of someone’s love brought to life.

Kids who grew up reading would love this place. Adults who grew up with these stories would also love this place. It’s like seeing a story adapted in to a movie. Those words and mental images...

🌲 A Magical Piece of Childhood You Can Still Walk Through 🌲 I first visited The Enchanted Forest when I was a little girl, holding my mom’s hand and stepping into a world straight out of the storybooks. It wasn’t flashy—it was magical. And decades later, at 50 years old, I’ve now returned twice in the past four years, bringing my Havanese with me, and it still brings me just as much joy as it did when I was little.

Yes, the displays are handmade. That’s part of the charm. Everything you see here was created with real hands and real hearts, not machines or corporate gloss. It’s not Disneyland—thank goodness for that. It’s quiet magic. It’s a little quirky. And it’s filled with love.

If you’re coming here expecting state-of-the-art animatronics and neon lights, this might not be your place. But if you come with the heart of a child—or a memory of one—you’ll find yourself enchanted.

Greta Garbo, my extremely extroverted Havanese, was delighted by every corner. We even gave one of our custom stickers to a lovely staff member—because magic like this deserves celebration.

To the people who maintain this place: thank you. Thank you for keeping this dream alive. It’s not creepy. It’s not weird. It’s wonderful. And it’s a little piece of B.C. history that deserves to be protected and loved, not mocked.

We’ll be back again. Always. 💜 With love, Daniella & Greta Garbo (the Havanese explorer...

What a weird and wonderful place "The Enchanted Forest" turned out to be. We brought our kids here for fun, but I think I enjoyed it the more than anyone else.

I can't say enough about the handcrafted figures, most of which look both lovingly made and painted by someone with, shall we say, more ambition than skill, and perhaps a touch of madness? I hope this doesn't come across as mean, as I wholeheartedly enjoyed all the art and it wouldn't at all be the same experience if the scultures had a Disney-perfect aesthetic. They are eerily wonderful, and peppered all over the place. The detail put into the small houses, many of which you could actually enter and had a basement or second floor... well, it's incredible someone would go to such lengths to create small spaces for people (mainly small kids) to explore. I would have loved to see a few darker, more menacing or scary pieces, but that was a caclulated decision to not scare any children.

There's also a nice board/nature walk attached to the trail, which we walked along. There's also a boat tour of the wetland but it was closed when we went.

To sum up, I loved the experience, and I think this place can appeal to all sorts of people - mainly young families and...