Kootenay National Park

Banff-Windermere Highway, 105 km (65 mi.) long, runs south from the TransCanada Highway at Castle Junction, 28 km (17 mi.) north-west of Banff, down to Radium Hot Springs, passing through spectacular mountain scenery west of the continental divide and following the valleys of the Vermilion and Kootenay rivers. These two valleys form the core of Kootenay National Park. There are plenty of parking places along the way so that visitors can explore the virtually untouched hinterland.GeologyThe main mountain range in Kootenay National Park reaches heights of over 3,000 m (9846 ft), and is predominantly closely packed layers of stratification. The younger sedimentary layers of the western ranges show much more folding and erosion, and such typical features as rugged rocky ridges and sawtooth peaks, snow and ice-covered massifs, cirques, glaciers, hanging valleys and narrow gorges cut deep into marbled limestone, make the drive through the Kootenay National Park quite a unique experience. With any luck, it will be possible to see moose, Wapiti and mountain goat as well.Unlike the towering mountains of the north, the less rugged uplands in the south of the park get less snow and rain, and have a milder climate that enables many of different creatures to spend the winter in the lower Kootenay valley.HistoryArchaeological evidence shows that for thousands of years the valleys and passes of what is now Kootenay National Park served as important trade routes for the Indians. The rock drawings at Radium Hot Springs are an indication of how significant a place this was for the Indians of the Plains as well as those of the mountains.In the 19th c. the Hudson's Bay Company explorers followed the old Indian trails into the Kootenay area in search of furs and a suitable route to get to the Columbia River and the Pacific. They were followed by settlers, prospectors and mountaineers. Resourceful entrepreneurs soon discovered the value of the hot springs, and Radium Hot Springs got its first spa hotel in 1911. The area was declared a national park in 1920 when the province of British Columbia transferred the land to the Canadian government. The Banff-Windermere Parkway, the first major highway through the central Rockies, was built without delay and subsequently much improved in the 1950s. It now has plenty of parking places and lookout points where visitors can stop to admire the magnificent scenery.