THE KOOTENAYS - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 431

(519/826-6850 or 800/689-9025, www.discovercamping.ca , early May-Sept., $28) has
semiprivate sites, hot showers, and easy access to the beach.
CRANBROOK
Crossroads of the eastern Kootenays, Cranbrook (pop. 19,500) nestles at the base of the
Purcell Mountains 106 kilometers (66 miles) east of Creston and provides spectacular views
eastward to the Canadian Rockies. The main touristy reason to stop is the rail museum, but
with the surrounding wilderness, nearby Fort Steele Heritage Town, and well-priced mo-
tels, it's a good base for further exploration.
Canadian Museum of Rail Travel
Cranbrook's main attraction, the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel (57 Van Horne St.,
250/489-3918, 10am-6pm daily mid-May.-mid-Oct., 10am-5pm Tues.-Sat. mid-Oct.-mid-
May, Grand Tour adult $21.30, senior $18, child $5.50) is on a siding of the main Canadian
Pacific Railway line directly opposite downtown. Most of the displays are outdoors spread
along three sets of track, including the only surviving set of railcars from the Trans-Canada
Limited, a luxury train (also called “The Millionaires' Train”) built for the Canadian Pacific
Railway in 1929. The dining, sleeping, and solarium lounge cars sport inlaid mahogany
and walnut paneling, plush upholstery, and brass fixtures. Restoration displays, a viewing
corridor, a model railway display, a slide show, and guided tours of the car interiors are in-
cluded in the price of the two-hour Deluxe Tour, or you can choose abbreviated tours (from
adult $6, senior $5, child $2.50), but you'll miss the best of the museum.
Heritage Walking and Driving Tour
The locals are proud of their downtown heritage buildings, which you can view on a self-
guided walking tour by picking up the handy Cranbrook Heritage Tour brochure from the
visitor center or the railway museum (stop number one on the tour). You can still see the
home of Colonel Baker—the original Cranbrook developer for whom downtown's main
street is named—in Baker Park off 1st Street South.
If you're still in a heritage mood and heading for Kimberley, take Old Airport Road (a
continuation of Theatre Road) north to St. Eugene's Mission Church, between Cranbrook
and Kimberley. Built in 1897, this is the finest Gothic-style mission church in the province;
it features beautiful, hand-painted Italian stained-glass windows.