Page 270 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

268  P A CIFIC NOR THWEST REGION B Y REGION

Today, there are more than
60 reconstructed or restored
buildings, staffed by guides in
period costume, including the
general store, livery stable, and
North West Mounted Police
officers’ quarters, where
personal items such as family
photographs, swords, and
uniforms create the illusion of
recent occupation. Demonstra-
19th-century barber’s shop in Fort Steele tions of traditional crafts such as
Heritage Town ice-cream-making and quilting
are also held here. “Living history”
r Fort Steele dramas and musical comedy
Heritage Town shows staged in the Wild Horse The Purcell Mountains, noted for remote
Theater are inspired by the town’s rivers and forests
Road map 2 C4. Tel (250) 426-7352. history, and tours at the nearby
Open May, Jun & Sep–mid-Oct: Wild Horse Creek Historic Site It is named after Earl Grey,
9:30am– 5pm daily; Jul & Aug: include a chance to pan for gold. Canada’s Governor General from
9:30am–6pm daily; mid-Oct–Apr: 1904 to 1911, who chose the
10am–4pm daily. & 7 =
∑ fortsteele.ca t The Purcell Purcell range as the place to
build a vacation cabin for his
Fort Steele is a re-creation of Mountains family, in 1912. The trail he
the mining supply town that Road map 2 C4. n 270 Kimberley traveled followed an established
was established at this site Ave, Kimberley, (250) 427-0491. route used by the Kinbasket
in 1864, when gold was dis- Natives of the Ktunaxa First
covered at Wild Horse Creek. The rugged and beautiful Nations tribe. Today, the trail is
Thousands of prospectors and Purcell Mountains face the notoriously dangerous; bears,
entrepreneurs arrived by the Rockies across the broad avalanches, and fallen trees are
Dewdney Trail, which linked Columbia River Valley. The just some of the hazards hikers
the town of region is one of may encounter along the
Hope to the the most remote way. Hiking here requires skill
gold fields. in the Rockies and experience and therefore
Originally and attracts should not be attempted by
called hikers and novice hikers.
Galbraith’s An historic dentist’s sign in Fort Steele skiers from
Ferry, the town Heritage Town around the y Radium Hot
was renamed globe. A high
after Samuel Steele, the North range of granite spires, called Springs
West Mounted Police super- the Bugaboos, also draws Road map 2 C4. * 800.
inten dent who arrived in 1887 mountain climbers. In the north Tel (250) 347-9331.
to restore peace between the of the Purcell range, the Purcell ∑ radiumhotsprings.com
warring Ktunaxa First Nations Wilderness Conservancy – one
tribe and European settlers. of the range’s few accessible The town of Radium Hot Springs
The town enjoyed a brief boom areas – covers a vast 500,900 is famous for its mineral springs
with the discovery of lead and acres (202,709 ha). and is a good base for exploring
silver, but the mainline railroad From the nearby town of nearby Kootenay National Park.
was routed through Cranbrook Invermere, it is possible to In summer, flowerpots decorate
instead, and by the early 1900s access the Earl Grey Pass Trail, motels along the highway
Fort Steele was a ghost town. which extends 35 miles (56 km). through town, and the town
has more visitors than residents.
Many of the 1.2 million annual
tourists come to bathe in the
healing waters of the springs.
The nearby Columbia Valley
Wetlands provide an important
habitat for over 250 migratory
waterfowl, such as Canada
geese, great blue herons, and
tundra swans. Fed by glacial
waters, the Columbia River
meanders through these
Fort Steele’s Wasa Hotel, modeled on a popular 1904 East Kootenay resort extensive marshlands.
For hotels and restaurants see pp290–91 and pp304–5

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