paulj
Seattle
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I was mistakingly thinking of the Kokanee Range (and Kokanee Prov Park) north of Nelson as the Kootenay Range. That's a subset of the Selkirks.
paulj
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SideHillSoup
South Eastern British Columbia
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Try this route staying in the Kootenay and Columbia Regions of BC. Since you only have a week I would suggest not going into Kootenay, Banff and Jasper National Parks (Lake Louise area) Your only about 7hrs from Banff, living in Spokane so spending a whole week just in that area would be a better Idea.
Head up to Sandpoint / Boners Ferry Idaho towards the Canadian Border North of Bonners Ferry on Hwy 95 there is a Jct. with Hwy 1. Take Hwy 1 to the Canadian Boarder at Porthill / Rykerts
Head on up towards Creston BC and take Hwy 3-A North up Kootenay Lake. Don’t take Hwy 3 in either west or east. You will see signs to the Kootenay Lake Ferry that is the Hwy to follow.
Follow Kootenay Lake North near Boswell there is a Glass house that can be toured.
http://www.kootenayrockies.com/attractions/glasshouse.html
Continuing up the Hwy towards Kootenay Bay Ferry Landing is Crawford Bay. If your into a round of Golf there is one of the most Beautiful Golf Courses anywhere, Kokanee Springs Golf Club.
Just north before the ferry Landing at Kootenay Bay there is a road that goes to the right towards Riondel. There is a community campground there and this small town gives you a beautiful view of the Kokanee Glacier Park across the Lake.
http://www.riondel.ca/
This is a dead end road so if you go up this route your coming back to the Ferry landing.
Take the ferry across the lake to Balfour , this is the longest Free Ferry ride in the world. From here you can head up Hwy 31 towards Ainsworth Hot Springs / Kaslo area or head down towards Nelson.
http://www.discovernelson.com/htdocs/main.html
I would suggest head up the lake towards Ainsworth Hot Springs.
http://www.hotnaturally.com/
Continue on up the lake towards Kaslo. There is a nice place to camp called Mirror lake, My neighbors always stay there with there young kids and love it,
http://www.mirrorlake.kaslobc.com/
I would suggest not staying at Woodbury Resort which you will see on the lakes side before you get to Mirror Lake. They are pushing the Fishing resort idea and from what I have herd from some buddies it has declined in the past couple of years.
Head on up to Kaslo and tour the dry dock paddle wheeler.
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3501
Then head over the hump on Hwy 31-A towards New Denver. Now this road is a little windy and hilly but take your time you will be fine. There is an old Ghost Town about ¾ of the way over called Sandon. The Jct. is on the left hand side and is a dirt road. The road is fine and you will have no problem in your MH. New Denver on Slocan Lake is Beautiful there is also a Community Campground here which is beautiful and right beside the lake. from here head north up Hwy 6 towards Nakusp. There is also a campground at Summit Lake my neighbors Dad used to part owner of and it is also a great spot to camp. Good fishing as well, but you will need fishing License for BC. In Nakusp there is another Hot Spring and this is also one of my favorite small towns in BC.
http://www.nakusp.com/siteengine/activepage.asp?bhcp=1
Your now on the Upper Arrow Lakes ( Columbia River) take Hwy 23 towards Revelstoke. There is a campground and Hot Springs at Halcyon Hot Springs they have a Full Service campground however it is not all that big and if you were going to stay here I would make reservations for sure.
http://www.halcyon-hotsprings.com/resort/accommodation_camping.htm
From here keep heading north up Hwy 23 across another free ferry at Galena Bay / Shelter Bay. And on up to Revelstoke. There is a Govt campground a few miles north of the Ferry Landing called Blanket Creek, which is on the Upper Arrow Lakes.
At Revelstoke head east on the Trans Canada Hwy 1. There is Revelstoke Railway Museum in Town that is very interesting.
http://www.railwaymuseum.com/
Ensure you get fuel here and before heading over the Roger Pass. About 40 km east of town there is a Hotel and another Museum that again has to do with building the Railway through the Selkirk Mountains, very interesting.
Continue down to Golden and take the Jct south on Hwy 95, towards Radium Hot Springs. There is another Hot Springs at Radium just a few miles east of town towards Banff. We stop here some times when traveling to Calgary. There are a few campground around here but I would head south 1 hr to Fort Steel. There is a campground right across the Hwy and a Gas Station. I always fill up here as it has the cheapest Diesel between my home and Calgary.
http://www.fortsteele.ca/
http://www.fortsteelecampground.com/
Keep going south on Hwy 95 until you come to the Jct. with Hwy 3, go to Cranbrook where there is another Museum on Railways. Head south out of town on Hwy 3. on the North End of Moyie Lake there is another great Provincial Campground here. There are a couple on the Hwy between Golden and Cranbrook any one of them are great spots. When you get to Yahk can cross the border just south of there or go the 30 minutes west back to Creston and head across the boarder the same way you cam up.
Al these roads I have stated are good Hwys. Some are hilly and windy but just take your time. All the campground I have stated I have stayed at except Halcyon and Fort Steel.
http://www.kootenaylake.bc.ca/index.htm
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/
http://bcadventure.com/adventure/interest.htm
This route could be easily driven in 3 days, so take your time and poke around a bit there is lots to see and roads to explore that I haven't told you about.
What ever you decide enjoy you trip to BC, and if you need more Info send me a private message
Soup
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2006, Komfort 261FS
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bobofthenorth
Nipawin, SK
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SideHillSoup wrote:Kootenays are a Region not a Valley. 
The government of Canada disagrees with you.
Kootenay Valley viewpoint
Regardless of what you choose to call the area, the Kootenay Valley is a great region to visit.
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paulj
Seattle
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That viewpoint is in Kootenay Nat Park, a bit east of Radium Hot Springs. The Kootenay River flows through the park for a while near its headwaters.
RDEK, Regional District of East Kootenay covers the SE corner of BC about as far north as Radium. It includes the headwaters of both the Columbia and the Kootenay.
paulj
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ltt
edmonton
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LOVE kokanee creek provincial park
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megsfolks
Spokane, WA
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Wow! Thanks for all the spectacular insights. Can't wait to start planning our trip!
Mike, Lisa, and Megan
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SideHillSoup
South Eastern British Columbia
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bobofthenorth wrote:SideHillSoup wrote:Kootenays are a Region not a Valley.
The government of Canada disagrees with you.
Kootenay Valley viewpoint
Regardless of what you choose to call the area, the Kootenay Valley is a great region to visit.
Well Bobofthenorth and paulj you were both right., there is a Kootenay Valley in Kootenay National Park, which is closer to next to Alberta, not Kootenay Lake.
However after you told me about this Valley I did some digging on my own. I fellow down the hall from my office grew up in Radium Hot Springs, so I asked him if he ever herd of Kootenay Valley, and his answer was no. So I showed him the site that you had left a link to and he said Oh Vermillion. So see Us Locals don’t call it that so that’s why I hadn’t ever herd about it.
Another point Bobofthenorth, you said in your first statement that you camped in the Kootenay lake area and you hadn’t been back to the Kootenay Valley in years., Kootenay Lake is not in the Kootenay Valley however the head waters of Kootenay River area.
One last point, I don’t agree with a lot of what our Canadian Gov’t or Provincial Gov’t says or does
Thanks for the clarification guys, I stand corrected.
Soup
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bobofthenorth
Nipawin, SK
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Evidently there are a variety of names for the area but its a great region to visit nevertheless. I particularly love the drive from Kaslo over to New Denver and the ferry ride from Balfour to Riondel. If we can tear ourselves out of the Shuswaps at the end of July we will come back through there this summer.
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SideHillSoup
South Eastern British Columbia
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But don't tell anyone where your going...."K"
Soup
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paulj
Seattle
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Among my collected tourist brochures I have one for 'Columbia Valley', covering the area round Radium and Invermere, including the headwaters of both the Columbia and the Kootenay, and one for 'Creston Valley', which is where the Kootenay River flows into Kootenay lake. Nelson and Kootenay Lake have identities of their own.
Back to the question of what to see, the Creston brochure has a map of the 'Selkirk Loop' This is an international tour loop, going north from Sandpoint, ID to Creston, and on to the Balfour ferry, through Nelson, and back south to the US and the Pend d'Oreille River valley. I think there's a web site for this loop, supported by businesses along the way.
paulj
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