Harrison Visitor Centre and Sasquatch Museum — Local services in Harrison Hot Springs

Enjoyed our adventures at Harrison Hot Springs today. It was only recently that I learned from a neighbour that this charming place is considered the capital of Bigfoot—also known as Sasquatch.

I would only take a three-hour public transit ride for something truly mystical.

I’ve been fascinated by Bigfoot ever since I can remember. Known in China as Yeren (“wild man”), the creature has been deeply rooted in Chinese folklore since ancient times, appearing as early as in The Classic of Mountains and Rivers. The Chinese government even organized two large-scale expeditions in the Shennongjia region of Hubei Province—where most sightings have occurred—during the 1970s and 1980s.

I visited the year-old Sasquatch Museum and had a lovely chat with the manager. She told me that the most recent sighting in Harrison Hot Springs took place in 2022 and that she personally believes a family of Sasquatches lives in the surrounding mountains. She also shared a chilling story about an Aboriginal girl who was allegedly abducted by a Sasquatch and kept captive for a year. When she finally returned home, she was pregnant and later gave birth to a hairy baby, who sadly died soon after birth.

Her story reminded me of a similar case from Shennongjia in China. In the 1980s, a peasant woman was reportedly abducted by a Bigfoot and released sometime later—pregnant. She gave birth to a child who looked and behaved like an ape. Until his death in his thirties, he reportedly lived completely naked, even in winter. He never spoke, threw stones at strangers, and had a fondness for bananas.

The museum manager explained that some scientists believe the Sasquatch species originally migrated from China through Siberia to North America via the Bering Strait. The museum even displays a replica of a Chinese primate’s skull to illustrate this fascinating theory.

Before I left, she mentioned one more thing that gave me chills: she once saw a UFO in the skies above Harrison Hot Springs—a metallic orb that hovered silently in the distance. They even managed to capture photos of it.

As I walked back through the quiet evening air, the mountains seemed to whisper their secrets. Whether Bigfoot is myth or reality, Harrison Hot Springs felt enchanted—like a place where legends...

Love local myths and lore so I still found this interesting. But it's a single incredibly tiny room, very dull exhibits with lots of long poorly written text. Bad replicas of sasquatch footprint casts form the central exhibit. The attendant didn't know the name of the local first nation or their language (Sts'Ailes and Halqemeylem, respectively) despite the fact that the sasquatch legend derived directly from the belief of the spiritual entity known as sásq'ec. To top it all off, they removed the bylines from all the newspaper articles they used, which I'm PRETTY SURE is bad archival practice. This isn't even really a museum, it's a kiosk with a tacky gift shop tacked to the front. I wish I had looked more closely, but I suspect that the majority of the "First Nations" designs in the shop lack attribution and are rip offs--I hope I'm wrong, someone go...

We've been to Harrison a bunch of times but this is the first time we've ever checked out the Sasquatch Museum and Visitor Centre. It turned out to be one of the best attractions in he area. They are super friendly and have tuns of information on what's available in and around Harrison. The Sasquatch Museum is interesting for both kids and grown ups. It's free to enter and has a great display of artifacts, video and articles about the noble giant of the rainforest. I'll visit every time I go now to get a handle on seasonal events. Be sure to ask what happens if one of your kids presses the belly on the giant sasquatch in the...