KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY

Shaped like a lightning bolt, this narrow 140,600-hectare (347,300-acre) park lies on the British Columbia side of the Canadian Rockies. The park’s northern section is bordered by Banff National Park and Assiniboine Provincial Park to the east and Yoho National Park to the north. Highway 93, extending for 94 km (58 miles) through the park, provides spectacular mountain vistas. Along the route you’ll find many short and easy interpretive hikes, scenic viewpoints, hot springs, picnic areas, and roadside interpretive exhibits. The park isn’t particularly noted for its day-hiking opportunities, but backpacker destinations such as Kaufmann Lake and the Rockwall rival almost any other area in the Canadian Rockies. Even if you never leave the highway, the scarred hillsides from wildfires that swept through the park in 2001 and 2003 will be obvious. The fires jumped the highway in places, burnt bridges and information booths, and forced the closure of some trails due to the danger of falling trees; check at local information centers for the latest updates.

Kootenay has the fewest services of the four contiguous mountain national parks. Day-use areas, a gas station and lodge, and three campgrounds are the only roadside services inside the park. The small service town of Radium Hot Springs, at the junction of Highways 93 and 95 near the park’s west gate, has a population less than 600 but offers a range of accommodations, cafés and restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores. The park is open year-round, although you should check road conditions in winter, when avalanche-control work and snowstorms can close Highway 93 for short periods.

Paint Pots: These naturally occurring ponds make a colorful stop along Highway 93. (read more)

Radium Hot Springs: After a long day hiking, the best recipe for soothing aching muscles is a soak in these mineral waters, located just outside the town of the same name. (read more)

Stanley Glacier Trail: Although it takes around 90 minutes to reach the end of this trail, the stunning views are worth every step. (read more)

The Rockwall: This is the domain of serious hikers, but those willing to make the effort are rewarded with one of the most awe-inspiring geological formations in all of the Canadian Rockies. (read more)

Panorama Mountain Village: This self-contained resort offers something for everyone—golfing, hiking, and biking in summer and world-class skiing and boarding in winter. (read more)