Road Trips & Circle Tours
When traveling in circles is actually a good thing.
For vacationers who absolutely love to see it all, dull moments are next to nil in Nelson Kootenay Lake, ‘year round. The region is full of great side trips, many of them circle tours that start and end in the same community.
Great for half-day excursions, full days or overnighters, our side trips are super – whether you’re interested in history, artisanship and crafts, adventure or wildlife.
The Silvery Slocan — Great for history lovers and sight seeing, alike, the Silvery Slocan trip winds along some of the most beautiful lakeshore in British Columbia. Retracing the glory days of Nelson Kootenay Lake’s mining boom, the route winds down the western shores of Kootenay Lake, around Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park and down the east shore of Slocan Lake, running a total of 177 kilometres (110 miles). The trip includes Ainsworth Hot Springs, Kaslo, Sandon, Idaho Lookout and the Nikkei Internment Centre.
The East Shore — If you’re interests include art and the animal kingdom, the 240 kilometre (137 mile) trip around Kootenay Lake’s southern end and the Salmo-Creston Pass is a must-do. Following the longest free ferry ride in the world, from Balfour, you arrive in the incredible artisans community of Crawford Bay, where craftsmen work right in front of you in studios well-known for clay, fabric, ironwork and even brooms! The twisting highway route leads through Creston, and the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, a 17,000-acre reserve that’s home to 370 species. The trip up and over the Salmo Creston Pass takes you through the high country home of the mountain caribou, big horn sheep, black bear and grizzly.
The International Selkirk Loop — The Grand Daddy circle tour of them all, the ISL is a scenic 450 kilometre (280 mile) trip that travels through the West Kootenay, Idaho, and Washington State. The trip takes you into dozens of colourful towns, outdoor activity venues for hiking, biking, paddling and beaching, great dining, entertainment and shopping…and encircles the Southern Selkirk Mountains—prime habitat for elk, caribou, black bear, osprey and eagles. Visit the International Selkirk Loop website for more information.
The Powder Highway — The Kootenay’s famous snowfall and huge mountainous terrain has earned it the title “The Powder Highway.” Nelson Kootenay Lake has its own twist on the famous route. Following the Silvery Slocan loop, and adding in a short side trip to the Salmo Creston Pass, skiers, snowboarders and telemarkers can make more turns in a single day — at more lodges and lift-accessed resorts — than anywhere else in the world. The 200 kilometre (130 mile) lap takes you to two resorts (Whitewater Resort and the charming Salmo Ski Hill), six cat skiing operations, two heli skiing companies and another half dozen backcountry lodges, plus The Pass, a tourers dream day-trip. Visit the Powder Highway website for more information.
The West Kootenay Corridor — The cities of Castlegar, Rossland and Trail are located to the southwest of Nelson Kootenay Lake, on a loop of 90 kilometres one-way (64 miles) that follows the Columbia River. The Brilliant Suspension Bridge and Doukhobour Discovery Centre and Village Museum are located in Castlegar. Rossland—known as Canada’s Alpine City—is home to Red Mountain, the Rossland Museum and the summer-long Gold Fever Follies historical music theatre show. An array of beautiful murals adorn a number of Trail’s iconic businesses, including the historic Trail Memorial Centre, home of the World Champion Trail Smoke Eaters hockey team. Trail is also home to a vibrant Italian community of over 1,400, and the Teck-Cominco Lead-Zinc Smelter, the world’s largest zinc and lead smelting facility.