EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Windermere , 15km north of Fairmont Hot Springs, is little more than a supermarket, petrol station and campsite immediately off the highway, and hardly hints at the presence of INVERMERE , about 1km beyond on the western shore of Windermere Lake. White settlement of the region can almost be said to have begun here, for explorer David Thompson passed this way in 1807 as he travelled up the Columbia River. With his aboriginal wife, several children and eight companions, he built Kootenay House, the area's first trading post. Its site is marked by a cairn on Westside Road. A feel-good summer resort with the usual range of aquatic temptations, Invermere today makes a nicer accommodation prospect than Radium. However, droves of anglers, boaters and beach bums mean summer vacancies may be in short supply, in which case call the central infocentre at 5A Street and 7th Avenue (late July to early Sept daily 8am-8pm; tel 342-6316) for B&B possibilities or head for one of the town's four motels - the Lee-Jay , 1015 13th St (tel 342-9227; $60-80), is the most reasonable and the Best Western Invermere Inn at the heart of downtown at 1310 7th Ave is the smartest (tel 342-9246 or 1-800/661-8911; $80-100). The nearest provincial campsite , with vehicle and tent sites, is 7km north at Dry Gulch Provincial Park ($12; May to mid-Sept), but the private Coldstream Lakeside Campground (tel 342-6793; $25 per vehicle; May-Sept) is on the lake and has a sandy beach. For food , try the popular Myrtle's on 7th Avenue, Huckleberry's on Laurier Street or the Blue Dog Café on 7th Avenue, the last being particularly good for vegetarians and wholefood aficionados. For highly regarded local cuisine make for Strand's Old House , 818 12th St (tel 342-6344). If you want a break from eating, drinking or lazing on beaches, spend a few minutes with the mining, railway and other displays in the Windermere Valley Museum , 622 3rd St (June-Sept Tues-Sun 9.30am-4pm; $2; tel 342-9769), housed in a heritage building at the top of the hill and to the right on entering the village.

From Invermere the minor Toby Creek Road climbs west into the mountains to the burgeoning Panorama Ski Resort (18km), whose slick facilities include only limited and rather expensive accommodation. At over 1000m, the big 250-room Panorama Resort (tel 342-6941 or 1-800/663-2929; $125-175) is also open in summer for tennis, riding, white-water rafting and fishing. In summer the chief appeal of the area is hiking, particularly if you continue up the road to the less tainted Purcell Wilderness Conservancy , one of the few easily accessible parts of the Purcell Mountains. If you have a tent and robust hiking inclinations, you could tackle the 61-kilometre trail through the area to Argenta on the northern end of Kootenay Lake, an excellent cross-country route that largely follows undemanding valleys except when crossing the Purcell watershed at Earl Grey Pass (2256m).