THE KOOTENAYS - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 412

to learn about the smelting process. Free tours of the Cominco complex show you the area
where ores are melted and separated and tell you about the byproducts, such as fertilizers,
converted from the waste. The tours depart from the interpretive center, but to book a tour
contact Trail Visitor Centre (1119 9 Bay Ave., 250/368-3144 or 877/636-9569, 9am-5pm
daily in summer).
Champion Lakes Provincial Park
Escape the smokestacks in this 1,426-hectare (3,520-acre) park, 23 kilometers (14.3 miles)
east along Highway 3B toward Nelson, then a few kilometers farther along the access road.
The park encompasses a chain of three small lakes nestled in the Bonnington Range. Hiking
trails connect the lakes; First Lake, accessed from a trail at road's end, is the least busy. The
park campground (519/826-6850 or 800/689-9025, www.discovercamping.ca , June-mid-
Sept., $21), between Second and Third lakes, has 95 sites, of which 30 can be reserved in
advance.
Salmo Toward Creston
East of Trail on Highway 3, the small village of Salmo (pop. 1,100) features old-fashioned
wooden buildings, a small museum (1pm-5pm daily in summer), and streets decorated in
summer with huge hanging flower baskets bursting with brilliant color. The promise of
quick fortune brought prospectors to gold diggings in the Salmo River watershed through
the 1860s, but as in so many other boomtowns in the Kootenays, the riches were short-lived.