West Kootenay Go & Do - Spring 2022
West Kootenay Go & Do Regional Guide Printed in Canada. Published in Kaslo, BC 3 times a year. 1-800-663-4619
West Kootenay Go & Do Regional Guide
Printed in Canada. Published in Kaslo, BC 3 times a year.
1-800-663-4619
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Popular hikes<br />
MelDeAnna An easy to intermediate<br />
trail, it is both bike and dog friendly.<br />
It is a 5 km loop, level and shaded,<br />
and great for bird watching.<br />
Brilliant Overlook Takes you up the back<br />
of the bluff on the east side of the <strong>Kootenay</strong><br />
River. Your reward after the 330 m elevation<br />
gain is an incredible view of both<br />
the Columbia and <strong>Kootenay</strong> River valleys.<br />
Merry Creek Bike Trails: This network<br />
includes the easy Merry Creek Loop,<br />
the intermediate Merry <strong>Go</strong> Round and<br />
Hail Merry trails as well as the much<br />
harder Crazy Merry trail. To access them,<br />
follow Hwy 3 west from Castlegar to<br />
Merry Creek Forest Service Road, turn<br />
right. Drive about 2km to the trailhead.<br />
<strong>Kootenay</strong> Gallery of Art<br />
The Gallery, located across from<br />
the airport in Castlegar, provides a<br />
professional venue for regional artists<br />
to show and sell their work.<br />
Outside the gallery<br />
are the butterfly and<br />
xeriscape gardens.<br />
The butterfly garden<br />
has attracted some<br />
rarely seen species<br />
such as the western<br />
tiger swallowtail,<br />
pale swallowtail and<br />
grey hairstreak.<br />
The xeriscape<br />
garden is planted<br />
with native grasses<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
and perennials. Interpretive signs give<br />
you more information and help you to<br />
identify all the shrubs, plants and trees.<br />
See the ad below for hours and<br />
the website for current shows.<br />
<br />
❘<br />
CASTLEGAR<br />
Salmo, originally just a whistle stop on the historic Nelson/Fort<br />
Shepherd Railway, at the turn of the last century became a centre for<br />
supplies and entertainment for prospectors, miners and loggers.<br />
The Hub of the <strong>Kootenay</strong>s<br />
Today Salmo is a quaint town at the<br />
junction of two highways. There are<br />
fishing and swimming holes to be<br />
discovered along the picturesque<br />
Salmo River, hiking and mountain<br />
biking and BMXing at the ski hill, there’s<br />
a municipal campground, and on any<br />
summer Thursday until the end of<br />
September you can stroll the Farmers<br />
Market from 3 to 6 pm, where you will<br />
get a taste for the valley and its people.<br />
There are a number of rock murals<br />
throughout the downtown area. Take<br />
a stroll and see how many you can<br />
find. If you come across the pedestrian<br />
bridge, cross over the Salmo River. If<br />
you keep heading west, you'll come to<br />
<strong>Spring</strong>board Park where huge cedar<br />
stumps are reminders of the Valley’s<br />
former old growth forests, harvested<br />
near the turn of the century. There<br />
are still groves of old growth cedar<br />
trees in this park. The park’s entrance<br />
and trail route is off of Bakken Road.<br />
The Salmo museum exhibits mining<br />
artifacts, photographs and maps<br />
of the Dewdney Trail among other<br />
items. It’s located at the corner of<br />
Fourth Street and Railway Avenue.<br />
Canada Day in Salmo<br />
The epic weekend Salmo festival is back<br />
in <strong>2022</strong>! Logger games, bubblegum<br />
blowing and watermelon eating<br />
contests, children’s races, fireworks<br />
and the Show ‘N’ Shine are a few of<br />
the traditional entertainments.<br />
Just out of town<br />
Play a round: Just 3 km south of Salmo<br />
is a great little community-run 9 hole<br />
course that has pretty much everything<br />
you want in a bigger golf course: club<br />
and cart rentals, a restaurant, wide and<br />
flat fairways… But the Salmo District<br />
<strong>Go</strong>lf Club is known for some things the<br />
executive 18 hole courses are not famous<br />
for – small town friendliness and low<br />
green fees. No tee<br />
times required either<br />
and if you are under<br />
12, you play for free!<br />
www.golfsalmo.com<br />
Sheep Creek<br />
Valley 8 km south<br />
of Salmo, follow<br />
Sheep Creek Road<br />
to the Sheep<br />
Creek Mines. The<br />
abandoned gold<br />
mines and mining<br />
towns, dating<br />
from before the turn of the century<br />
until the 1950s, include <strong>Kootenay</strong> Bell,<br />
Reno, <strong>Go</strong>ldbelt and Queens. There<br />
are quite a lot of ruins to explore, as<br />
well as many trails for ATVers and<br />
hikers that lead into the mountains.<br />
ATVing and dirt biking are popular<br />
activities and there are two volunteerrun<br />
off-road tracks in the area: the Rover<br />
Creek Trails and the Tree Hugger Trails.<br />
Find out more at www.wkrdas.com<br />
Hiking & Biking<br />
The Nelson Salmo Great Northern<br />
Trail is a 48 km stretch of old railway<br />
line that connects Nelson, Ymir, and<br />
Salmo. Since it follows the bed of the<br />
former Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail<br />
line the grade is very family friendly, just<br />
as it was suitable for heavy locomotives<br />
on steel wheels back in its heyday. (Less<br />
than a 4% grade is the standard for<br />
SKYWAY HARDWARE 250-357-9911<br />
SALMO<br />
BC Canada The <strong>West</strong> <strong>Kootenay</strong> is COVID compliant, please respect our neighbourhoods. Stay & Play in the <strong>West</strong> <strong>Kootenay</strong> <strong>2022</strong> 15
Change language