Radium Hot Springs

(The Chalet Europe is the hotel on the far left!)

We took a mini-vacation at the end of July and spent 5 days in and around Radium Hot Springs.  What a beautiful area!  As always, I relied heavily on the reviews posted on TripAdvisor in booking our accommodations.  We were somewhat limited in our choices because we were traveling with Odin and it was the August long weekend.  We stayed at The Chalet Europe all 4 nights.  It was a mediocre stay, at best, and I doubt that I would stay there again.

Pros: spectacular views of the Columbia Valley, continental breakfast in the lobby each morning, clean rooms, all of which have a queen-size bed, kitchenette, sofa, TV and DVD player.


Cons:  very hard, uncomfortable mattress, at the top of a steep hill so not convenient to walk to the restaurants in town, owners are pleasant but extremely disorganized.  They lost our reservation (not surprising considering that their reservation system is all handwritten notes in a 3-ring binder?!), had to scramble to find us a room, and then we had to change rooms after the 2nd night.  They offered us free passes to the Hot Springs as compensation, although when I learned that admission to the Hot Springs  costs only $6/person it somewhat cheapened the gesture.  Also, on more than one occasion we returned to the hotel to find the owner perched on the side of the hill, shirtless, holding a rifle and teaching his 5-year-old daughter how to shoot vermin.  Maybe he should change occupations and move to Alberta?  Next time, I think I will try camping at Redstreak Campground.

Emerald Lake

Best eatery in Radium was definitely Back Country Jacks.  How do you choose between All You Can Eat Steak Fridays and All You Can Eat Ribs Saturdays? You choose both, of course!

Best coffee in Invermere was Kicking Horse Coffee.  (Of course I don't drink coffee, so I'm relying on Chris' raving reviews!)

Best mountain scenery was found in Yoho National Park.  We took a day to drive through Golden to Field and then back to Radium.  The hike to Wapta Falls was lovely, and Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake and the Kicking Horse Natural Bridge were all great spots to visit.  If we had more time, we would have liked to canoe around Emerald Lake.  So pristine (and green)!

Lussier Hot Springs

Best Columbia Valley location was Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park, especially the Lussier Hot Springs.  I had never been to an all-natural hot springs, and it was amazing!  I enjoyed Radium Hot Springs as well, but there's something extra special about watching the hot water trickle out of the rocks and relaxing in such a gorgeous, noncommercial setting.  We discovered the Lussier Hot Springs on our drive down the Columbia Valley in search of a beach that allowed dogs (as it turns out, such a thing does not exist).  We settled for the very isolated and virtually uninhabited beach at Home Basin Campground at the far end of Whiteswan Lake, where we were fairly confident there was no one around to enforce the no dogs sign.  Just a little word of warning - the 3 km canyon portion of Whiteswan Lake Road is one lane, with pullouts at regular intervals, a mountain on one side of the road, a 3,000 foot cliff on the other side and no guard rails whatsoever! Absolutely terrifying if you allow yourself to peer over the edge of the cliff, but definitely worth the adrenaline rush.

Frank Slide

Best road back home was Highway 93/95 south to Cranbrook, Highway 3 east through Fernie and Frank Slide, the Cowboy Trial (Highway 22) north to Black Diamond and then jump over to Highway 2 back to Edmonton.  The Cowboy Trail was a very picturesque landscape of rolling foothills and quiet country roads.  I wish I had a reason to drive through that area of Alberta more often.  Frank Slide is still impressive, although the Interpretative Centre may be a little over the top (yes, my Drumheller roots have made me a museum snob!)  My favourite display was an interactive audiovisual time line that compared Frank Slide (basically a natural disaster caused by the over-mining of Turtle Mountain that occurred over 100 years ago and killed approximately 70 people) with the Big Bang, the extinction of dinosaurs and the rise of mankind.  I know the display was intended to highlight the tragic circumstances of the slide, but I could not stop laughing at the blatant conceit of the comparison!  Nevertheless, I still think the Interpretative Centre is worth visiting, if only to pay homage to one of Alberta's few historic sites.