Inside the Bow Flats Natural area, just off the Trans-Canada Highway is a large tunnel carved into the north facing slope of Mt. McGillivray's solid limestone.
The tunnel leads into the mountain to two chambers roughly 80 feet x 25 feet. Many people say the Canadian Government tunneled into the mountain as a plan to build a bunker that would house officials in case of a nuclear event during the Cold War.
As it turns out those theorists are not too far from the mark. The shallow caves were actually constructed by a private company, Rocky Mountain Vaults and Archives, with the intent of holding only documents... in the beginning. Rocky Mountain Vaults and Archives obtained licenses to begin constructing the vault in 1969, though it is suspected that they had started tunneling before then. The company had planned to store the countries "most important documents" to keep them safe in the even of nuclear fallout. The vault would be climate-controlled and protected from all elements and dangers. "Built for maximum protection... against any form of destructive vice, from mildew to hydrogen bomb." The original plans for the facility called for a system of impenetrable chambers and vaults built right into the mountain, which could THEORETICALLY have served as a redoubt for government officials in the case of an apocalypse. Regardless, what would undoubtedly have been the largest secure file storage vault of that time fell short on financing early in construction and the company went bankrupt. The project was abandoned and left as it was, only a fraction of the planned size of the original ambitious idea.
Today the vault caves are still empty and have become favorite spots for amateur hikers and cavers who can explore the unguarded chambers without hopping so much as a fence.
