Radium Hot Springs/Kootenay National Park British Columbia Canada

August 18 – 20, 2017:  

Radium Hot Springs was an optional visit for us. We really didn’t know just how much time we would have in the area when we planned this 6 months ago.  We also wanted to fit some time in to visit friends on our way to Vancouver before the Alaska cruise next Monday the 28th.   It turned out that our friends, Dianne and Steve, were available as their quad event had been canceled due to the fire ban here.  That left us with time to visit the Radium Hot Springs area a bit.

The trip from Lake Louise to the hot springs was a little bit more mountain climbing than we have had so far.  Still wasn’t too bad though.  Most of the upgrades were short and around 7-8%.   However the last downgrade was a real doozy of 11% for about 5 miles! That last grade was coming into the town of Radium Hot Springs.  And just at the end of the grade was a very sharp curve that overlooked the town.  I wouldn't want to do this trip in the winter! With our engine brake I really don’t mind these downgrades that much though.

Entering British Columbia

Our start down into Radium Hot Springs at 11% grade

The end and the sharp curve at the end.

It took us about 2 hours to make the trip to Radium Hot Springs from Lake Louise.  Once we arrived we found out that we didn’t have a reservation as we had thought.  It seems that there are 2 campgrounds named the same thing, one here and one in northern BC.  We had a reservation at the one in northern BC and the one here was closed! Uh oh! 

We pulled over in a parking lot while Patty found us another place, and she did!  She found us a place on the other (North West) side of town on BC 95.  So we headed out of town for about 5 miles to the Edgewater Golf Course and RV Park.

The campground was very small, just around 10 sites, and we were surrounded by the golf course.  The owners had raised a family there and farmed the place until the late 80s.  They opened for business in 1994 as the golf course and campground.  Mom bakes pies for sale and runs a small café on the premises.  Dad maintains the golf course and the park facilities.  It also looks like some of the kids are helping too. This is a nice family owned and run place and we highly recommend it! We there stayed for just 2 nights giving us one full day to explore and visit the hot springs.

Our nice site in the Edgewater RV Park.

They had fresh rhubarb pie!  We got 2!

Our main purpose for being here was to use the radium hot spring. We got our swimming suits and towels out and headed to the hot springs located just outside of town on BC 93. First, though, we had lunch on our way at the Horse Thief Creek Pub in town. Lunch was great, believe it or not.  Again the food on this trip out west has been really good and this place was no different.  I had fish and chips and the fish was perfect!

The Horse Thief Creek Pub

Now on the Radium Hot Springs.  The hot springs is just like a really good private run swimming pool but is owned by the National Parks System.  It has a cooler spring fed swimming pool and the Radium Hot Spring pool which we were mostly interested in.  The place is real cheap too at just $5.60 each. 

There is a walkway tunnel under BC 93 to the Hot Springs
from the parking lot.  This area is under construction.

The hot springs has a spa too that we did not use.  They have showers and mens and ladies locker rooms with coin operated lockers. The hot springs here have been open since the early 1900s and before it was used by the Indians.  In the 1920s the Canadian government took over the springs as part of the Kootenay National Park.

The Radium hot spring hot pool is between 100 and 103F. The day we are there the air was a little chilly at around 68F so the water felt real good when we got in.   However, it was a real bear to get out though, it felt really cold!  

Patty was hoping it had some effect on her skin itch issue but it didn’t. It actually seemed to cause her even more itch!  We really didn’t hold much hope that the springs would offer much help but we wanted to try anyway.  Her itch is mostly from a neurological issue that we have as yet get a complete answer to.

We spent about an hour and a half there before heading back to the RV.  For the price you just can’t beat this place. For just under $10 USD the 2 of us had the whole day if we wanted to, to use both pools!  For a few dollars more could have gotten massages too.  We should have done that, not sure why we didn’t!

That was it for our adventure to the Radium Hot Springs in Kootenay National Park.  This was a nice place to stay and unwind.  If we had to do this over we would have stayed an extra day and more fully enjoyed the hot spring, maybe a massage, and had dinner in town.  It was still a very good adventure and we are glad we went.

We had a visitor walk through our site!

Next up, we are headed further west to see a couple of RV friends (Dianne and Steve Colibaba) in Logan Lake BC.   First, we will do an overnight stay in Salmon Arms BC.

Stay Tuned!