Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park
Continuing north, the Canadian Rockies close in and the scenery becomes more dramatic.
Twenty-eight kilometers (17 miles) north of Skookumchuck and five kilometers (3.1 miles)
south of Canal Flats, an unsealed logging road takes off east into the mountains, leading
to 1,994-hectare (4,930-acre) Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park. The road climbs steadily
from the highway, entering Lussier Gorge after 11 kilometers (6.8 miles). Within the gorge,
a steep walking trail descends to Lussier Hot Springs. Two small pools have been con-
structed to contain the odorless hot (43°C/110°F) water as it bubbles out of the ground and
flows into the Lussier River. Within the park itself, the road closely follows the southern
shorelines of first Alces Lake and then the larger Whiteswan Lake. The two lakes attract
abundant birdlife; loons, grebes, and herons are all common. They also attract anglers, who
come for great rainbow trout fishing. Both lakes are stocked and have a daily quota of two
fish per person.
The road through the park passes four popular campgrounds (no reservations, May-
Sept., $16) with basic services but no hookups.
Top of the World Provincial Park
If you thought the scenery around Whiteswan Lake was wild and remote, wait till you see
this 8,790-hectare (21,720-acre) wilderness a rough 52 kilometers (32 miles) from High-
way 95 (turn off the Whiteswan Lake access road at Alces Lake). You can't drive into the
park, but it's a fairly easy six-kilometer (3.7-mile) hike from the end of the road to pic-
turesque Fish Lake, the park's largest body of water, which is surrounded by peaks up to
2,500 meters (8,200 feet) high.
Canal Flats and Vicinity
The small lumber-mill town of Canal Flats lies between the Kootenay River and Columbia
Lake. In 1889 the two waterways were connected by a canal with a single lock, but the pas-
sage was so narrow and dangerous that only two steamboats ever got through.
North of Canal Flats, the highway passes tiny Thunder Hill Provincial Park, which
overlooks turquoise-and-blue Columbia Lake. The highway then approaches and passes the
weirdly shaped Dutch Creek Hoodoos, a set of photogenic rock formations carved over
time by ice, water, and wind.
Fairmont Hot Springs
Kootenay people used these springs as a healing source for eons prior to the arrival of
Europeans, but they wouldn't recognize the place today. Surrounding the site is Fairmont
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