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Radium Hot Springs
Monday, May 26th, 2008 by GetawayBC.com
Although it is the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep capital of B.C., Radium Hot Springs is most famous for which it is named, naturally warm water springing from the earth and captured in a huge soaking pool in the adjoining Kootenay National Park.
Known nationally and internationally as a resort town, with 30 motels/hotels containing nearly 1,000 rooms, the village is geared to providing accommodation for the thousands of visitors who pass through every year.
Special vendors dot its main thoroughfare, Highway 93/95, which actually becomes that numerical configuration here. Highway 93 runs northeast through Kootenay National Park to the Trans-Canada Highway, 100 km away and Highway 95 heads north 110 km to Golden.
There are restaurants along the highway frontage roads and around the corner on the road up to the national park and hot springs.
The Village of Radium Hot Springs, population 750, was incorporated in 1992.
The progressive and picturesque village remains one of the fastest growing communities in British Columbia.
Another significant part of the village’s population is its 200 plus member Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep band.
While other communities along the Rocky Mountains in Canada and America call themselves bighorn sheep ‘capitals,’ few can match Radium for the number of sheep. Built on part of the band’s winter range, Radium and valley residents have learned to live side-by-side with the sheep.
The sheep are commonly seen in the village from late autumn to mid-spring.
Please be wary of their presence along and on the roadways. Sheep jams are common in April and November.
Thanks to a beautiful bronze, life-sized statue located at the Radium Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce Visitor Centre, the village’s ties to these animals are appreciated year-round.
The statue is a work of love created by Kaslo artist Rick Taylor.
Like most valley communities, Radium has an interesting past.
Back in 1920 when its population consisted of a handful of construction workers and lumberjacks, accommodations were neither so plentiful nor civilized as they are today.
Two dollars a week bought you space shared with strangers in a tent with a bed made of clean hay, illuminated by candles stuck in empty whiskey bottles. Use of the hot pool cost 50 cents or $1 a day for as many soaks as you wanted.
In 1923 an analyst from the Canadian government did some tests that showed the waters were radioactive, hence the name Radium.
It is believed the water is therapeutic, particularly for arthritis sufferers.
Even for completely healthy people, the water is certainly relaxing and soothing and the view provided from the pools of the red walls of Sinclair Canyon, named for explorer James Sinclair, is sheer beauty.
Geographical formations are the order of the area, as witnessed by the red rock wall and the dramatic canyon which you pass through upon entering Radium.
Kootenay National Park’s Redstreak Campground is located on the southeast side of Radium.
The village is also a golfer’s paradise, as it boasts two top-rated 18-hole golf courses, with the Springs at Radium and Radium Resort. Radium is the gateway to wild Purcell Mountain backcountry rife with four-season recreational opportunities.
Radium offers a great variety of dining and accommodation experiences and in June 2009, a new credit union. ;