Don't expect this ferry to take you to Procter. It carries you five minutes across the West Arm of Kootenay Lake from Highway 3A to Harrop, free, at any hour; Procter is a drive further east along the south shore once you are off the deck. On 29 September 2026 DriveBC listed no incident at the crossing.
On demand, 24 hours, as listed on the provincial Harrop page (last updated 21 August 2026) and the DriveBC ferry feed on 29 September 2026; year-round, no published end date BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit – Harrop Cable Ferry · 2026-09-29
Turn off Highway 3A between Nelson and Balfour, queue at the ramp, and drive aboard: the Harrop cable ferry will take you across the West Arm of Kootenay Lake in about five minutes, free, at any time of day or night. It is part of British Columbia's inland ferry network, owned by the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Transit and run under contract by Western Pacific Marine.
Get the destination right before you go. The provincial description names both Harrop and Procter as the south-shore communities served, and that can read as if the boat calls at both. It doesn't. It lands at Harrop, and Procter is reached by carrying on east along the south-shore road.
Plan on no waiting for a scheduled departure, because there are none. The boat crosses on demand, and the vessel that does the work, Harrop II, holds 24 vehicles.
Don't look for a fare. The province states flatly that all of its inland ferries are free to users, and Harrop is one of them: car, truck, motorcycle, bicycle or feet, it costs nothing in Canadian dollars or any other.
| Car, driver and passengers | Free |
| Commercial vehicle | Free |
| Cyclist or foot passenger | Free |
Zero fare: BC's statement that all inland ferries are free, last updated 31 July 2026 and confirmed 29 September 2026 BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit – Inland Ferries · 2026-09-29
The cable line is short, from Harrop Ferry Road on the Highway 3A side across to the landing at Harrop. The provincial page calls the water the Kootenay River; the 2019 announcement of the current boat calls it Kootenay Lake. Both are describing the West Arm, the narrow reach of the lake that runs west from Balfour towards Nelson. Procter, the other community this ferry serves, is not at the ramp but along the south shore to the east.
Leave Highway 3A at the ferry turn-off between Nelson and Balfour; the province places it 24.5 km out of Nelson and 8 km short of Balfour. Three DriveBC highway cameras point at this landing, so you can see the lineup from home before deciding to leave.
Wait in the lane for the boat to come back. There is nothing to buy and no ticket booth, so the only delay is the boat finishing its current trip.
You come off at Harrop. For Procter, keep going east along the south-shore road: the village sits roughly seven kilometres east of the ramp as the crow flies, opposite Balfour.
Heading back north, the same rule applies in reverse: roll down to this ramp and the boat comes over for you, whatever the hour, and you are back on Highway 3A five minutes later.
DriveBC runs three cameras at the Harrop landing, labelled north view, northbound and north landing. A glance tells you how long the lineup is.
The boat lands at Harrop. Budget extra driving time on the south shore if Procter is where you are going.
Harrop II was designed to take commercial vehicles at full legal highway weights; the deck holds 24 vehicles up to a total of 141,400 kg.
The contractor, Western Pacific Marine, has an office line for this crossing: 250-229-5650.
DriveBC has tree pruning scheduled on Highway 3A between Balfour Wharf Road and Keiran Road from 26 to 30 October 2026, weekdays 08:30 to 15:30, with single-lane alternating traffic.
Harrop II went into service in March 2019, replacing a smaller ferry that carried 21 vehicles. It was the third of four cable ferries built by WaterBridge Steel in Nakusp under a $27.9-million provincial contract signed in 2016; the others went to Adams Lake, Glade and Arrow Park. The province said at the time that the Harrop crossing had moved more than 290,000 vehicles and 419,000 passengers in a single fiscal year, and that the new boat would draw on on-board batteries while tied up at quiet times, to cut noise at the landing.
The same contract put a new boat on a very different lake in the Shuswap: the Adams Lake cable ferry, which is also free but keeps a nightly emergency-only window. Harrop has no such gap in its published hours.
Not directly. It crosses from Highway 3A to Harrop on the south shore. Procter lies further east along the south-shore road, roughly seven kilometres from the ramp in a straight line.
No. The province lists the service as on demand around the clock, so the ferry will take you across at 3 a.m. as readily as at noon, unless DriveBC shows an incident.
Nothing. British Columbia charges no fare on any of its inland ferries, whatever you drive.
Western Pacific Marine, under a provincial contract that also covers the Kootenay Lake and Glade ferries. The Ministry of Transportation and Transit owns the service.
Twenty-four, with a total load limit of 141,400 kg. The previous vessel took 21.
On DriveBC, which carries three live cameras at the landing. The provincial Harrop page links to them.