Chunamon Airport

The closure was almost certainly for economic reasons, directly tied to the cessation of the industrial activity it was built to support. Airstrips like Chunamon are typically private facilities constructed for a specific purpose, such as a logging camp, mining exploration, or a construction project (like a pipeline or dam). Once the resource was depleted, the project was completed, or it became economically unviable, the associated camp and infrastructure, including the airport, were abandoned.

As of the latest satellite imagery, Chunamon Airport is abandoned and unmaintained. The single gravel runway is still clearly visible from the air but is overgrown with vegetation and is considered unusable for aviation purposes without significant rehabilitation. The site of the former camp or staging area it served is being reclaimed by the surrounding forest, with only clearings and old, deteriorating access roads remaining. The site is now just a remote, isolated clearing in the wilderness.

Chunamon Airport's significance was purely functional and local, serving as a critical transportation link to a remote worksite in the rugged wilderness of northern British Columbia. Named after nearby geographical features like Chunamon Mountain and Chunamon Creek, it was a private 'bush strip'. Its operations would have consisted of flying in personnel, equipment, and supplies, and flying out personnel or product samples. The airport would have handled rugged, Short Take-Off and Landing (STOL) capable aircraft, such as the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, DHC-3 Otter, and possibly larger aircraft like the DHC-6 Twin Otter or Bristol Freighter, which are workhorses of the Canadian north. Its existence is a testament to the methods required for resource extraction and exploration in Canada's vast, inaccessible regions before the construction of permanent road networks.

There are no known plans or prospects for reopening Chunamon Airport. Its remote location and specific original purpose mean it holds no value for general or commercial aviation. A reopening would only be considered if a new, major resource extraction or industrial project were to be established in the immediate vicinity, requiring the significant investment to clear, regrade, and certify the airstrip for use. Given the lack of any such announced projects, the prospects for reopening are effectively zero.