EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Don't stop in CRESTON unless you're a bird-watcher or feel like hunting down such sightseeing frippery as "Canada's best mural" (the original, in McDowell's department store, had spawned another nine pictures around town at last count). The infocentre is in a log cabin (one of the town's few buildings of interest) on the east side of town at 711 Canyon St (Mon 9am-5pm, Tues-Sat 9am-6pm; tel 428-4342): use it if by mischance you need accommodation , though with twenty or so motels and campsites to choose from you probably won't be fighting for a bed. The cheapest and most central spot is the Hotel Creston , 1418 Canyon St (tel 428-2225; $40-60); motels on the town's fringes offer more salubrious, if slightly costlier alternatives. As well as Greyhounds passing through along Hwy 3, Empire Bus Lines runs an early-morning service from here to Spokane, WA (Mon & Thurs-Sun). If you're passing through, you might want to pause for the Stone House Museum , 219 Devon St (May-Sept daily 10am-3.30pm, by appointment the rest of the year; tel 428-9262; $2), known for its replica Kuntenai (Ktunaxa) canoe. Similar canoes, with their downpointed ends, are only found elsewhere in the world in parts of eastern Russia, underlining the fact that millennia ago migrations took place across the Bering Straits into North America.

Probably the best reason to spend time locally is the Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area , located 10km northwest of town off Hwy 3. Creston overlooks a broad section of valley and lowlands - relatively rare commodities in BC, home to the idly meandering Kootenay River. Over the years the river has repeatedly burst its banks, creating a rich alluvial plain beloved by farmers, and producing the lush medley of orchards and verdant fields that fringe Creston. Much of the flood plain and its wetlands, however - the so-called "Valley of the Swans" - have been preserved in their original state, creating a haven for birds and waterfowl. This area has one of the world's largest nesting osprey populations, while a total of 250 species have been recorded in the confines of the Creston Management Area (not to mention otters, moose and other animals). Birds can be seen from several points, but for full details of the area visit the sanctuary's Wildlife Centre, which provides telescopes and lookouts, a library and theatre, and a wide range of guided walks and canoe trips through the area's forest, marsh and grassland habitats.