KOOTENAY NATIONAL PARK AND VICINITY - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 256

West from Sinclair Pass
Beyond the Kootenay Valley viewpoint, Highway 93 tops out at 1,486 meters (4,875 feet)
atop Sinclair Pass. Just beyond the pass, tiny Olive Lake is worth a stop. With outlets
that flow in opposite directions and into two different watersheds, the lake is geologically
interesting, but for the younger set, spotting brook trout from the viewing platform will
prove more attention-grabbing.
From Olive Lake, it's a steep 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) descent along Sinclair Creek to
the park's western boundary and the town of Radium Hot Springs. Just after the halfway
point is the only road tunnel in the Canadian Rockies. After you emerge from the tunnel,
a parking lot on the south side of the road provides the perfect viewing point for sheer red
cliffs that form the high point of the Redwall Fault. Through this fracture in the Earth's
crust, mineral springs have been bubbling to the surface for thousands of years, staining
the rock with red-colored iron oxide.
MM Radium Hot Springs
This soothing attraction (250/347-9485, 9am-11pm daily in summer, noon-9pm daily the
rest of the year) lies inside the park but just three kilometers (1.9 miles) northeast of the
town of the same name, which is outside the park boundary. It was discovered many cen-
turies ago by the Kootenay people, who, like today's visitors, came to enjoy the odorless
mineral water that gushes out of the Redwall Fault at 44°C (111°F). Englishman Roland
Stuart purchased the springs for $160 in 1890 and built rough concrete pools to contain
the water. Development continued when a visiting millionaire—impressed by the improve-
ment in his paralysis after soaking in the springs—contributed more money to the project.
Originally known as Sinclair Hot Springs, after an early settler, the springs' name was
changed to Radium in 1915 for the high level of radioactivity in the water. With the de-
claration of Kootenay National Park in 1922, ownership reverted to the government.
Today the water is diverted from its natural course into the commercial pools, including
one that is Canada's largest. Steep cliffs tower directly above the hot pool, whose waters
are colored a milky blue by dissolved salts, which include calcium bicarbonate and sulfates
of calcium, magnesium, and sodium. The hot pool (39°C/97°F) is particularly stimulating
in winter, when it's edged by snow and covered in steam—your head is almost cold in the
chill air, but your submerged body melts into oblivion. Admission is adult $7 (or swim all
day for $10), senior and child $5.75 (day pass $7.85). Towel and locker rentals are avail-
able, as are spa services. If you're camping at the park's Redstreak Campground, you can
reach the complex on foot.