THE KOOTENAYS - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 428

Oct.), western Canada's only traditional broom manufacturer. The raw materials (collected
by hand in Arizona by the owners) are handcrafted into brooms using 19th-century meth-
ods. Stop in anytime and you're likely to find craftspeople hard at work and eager to share
their knowledge of this lost art. The workshop is crammed with brooms of all shapes and
sizes, ranging in price $30-220. A little farther along is Kootenay Forge (250/227-9466,
9am-5pm daily), a traditional blacksmith shop where you can watch artisans practicing this
ancient trade.
Also at Crawford Bay is Kokanee Springs Resort (250/227-9226 or 800/979-7999,
www.kokaneesprings.com , $149-199 s or d), where the 64 rooms and suites are decorated
in a stylish deep-blue color, offset by the natural colors of wooden trim and furniture. The
resort is also home to one of the province's most picturesque golf courses (greens fees $89),
which is the major draw.
The pick of local accommodations is M Wedgwood Manor (16002 Crawford Creek
Rd., 250/227-9233 or 800/862-0022, www.wedgwoodcountryinn.com , Apr.-Oct., $110-165
s or d). Set on 20 beautiful hectares (50 acres) adjacent to the golf course and within walk-
ing distance of a beach, this 1910 home offers six heritage-style rooms and two cabins, each
with a private bathroom and wireless Internet.
South Along Kootenay Lake
From Crawford Bay, it's 80 kilometers (50 miles) of lake-hugging road to Creston. Along
the way you'll pass small clusters of houses and Lockhart Beach Provincial Park, which
has a small campground (no reservations, mid-May-Sept., $16).
CRESTON
In a wide, fertile valley at the extreme southern end of Kootenay Lake lies Creston, a thriv-
ing agricultural center of 5,200. Although the town is south of the Kootenays' most spec-
tacular mountains, the scenery is still impressive; the Selkirk Mountains flank the valley to
the west, while the Purcell Mountains do the same to the east. Fruit stands lining Highway
3 on the east side of Creston from the west are a sign of the district's most obvious industry.
Stop for locally grown asparagus (May-early June), strawberries (July), cherries (mid-July-
mid-Aug.), peaches (late July-Sept.), and apples (Aug.-Oct.).
Sights
Creston Museum (219 Devon St., 403/428-9262, 9am-4pm Tues.-Sat. in summer, call for
off-season hours, adult $4, child $3), on the west side of town and south across the railway
tracks, is home to a Kutenai canoe, unlike any other in North America but similar to the