Columbia Valley Guide
Places to Visit
Welcome to the Columbia Valley
Nestled between the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Purcells to the west, the Columbia Valley lies like a sparkling jewel in the south-east corner of the province of British Columbia. Stretching from Invermere, Radium Hot Springs, Fairmont Hot Springs and Canal Flats in the south to Golden in the north, the Columbia Valley follows the meandering upper Columbia River from its headwaters in Columbia Lake.
Early in the nineteenth century, even before its discovery by Europeans, the Columbia Valley was home to the Ktunaxa, who hunted in its forests and fished its rivers.
Today the valley has become a permanent or a part-time home and playground for thousands and a second-to-none destination for vacationers from all over the world. With its beautiful lakes, its magnificent mountain views, hot ...
James Chabot Provincial Park
A little recreational oasis on the edge of Invermere at the northern tip of Lake Windermere, 14-hectare James Chabot Provincial Park has something for everyone. (CVGuide photos)
Nestled between the rugged peaks of the Purcell Mountains in the west and the Rocky Mountains in the east, and just 3 km from the crossroads where the Invermere access road meets Highway 93/95, James Chabot Provincial Park is a tiny oasis of green at the northern tip of Lake Windermere.
The park is located in an area now known as Athalmer, which along with the northern end of the lake, contained first nation settlements in the pre-colonial period. These settlements were frequented during salmon runs in the Columbia River salmon beds (called Kwataqnuk, meaning ‘where the water leaves the lake’). These salmon beds ...Full story
Fairmont Indian baths
On a little knoll about a minute’s hike up from the Fairmont Hot Springs parking lot, lies a real treasure. Sitting on a plateau of tufa rock coloured orange, brown, green and blue by the streams of spring water that leap out of the rocks above, is a very old stone bathhouse.
Fairmont Indian baths are natural hot spring pools that were popular among early settlers of the valley. It is not known why they were called ‘Indian’ baths. At the time that explorer David Thompson described them in his journal, there was no building.
“There is much petrified wood. From many places a white siliceous water was trickling … it is a strange fact that the hot spas, so common in Europe, in the great extent of my travels have never been seen by me nor do the Indians know of any.”
Later a stone ...Full story
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Places to Visit
