Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About Kootenay National Park

If you are interested in visiting the Canadian Rockies, but are concerned Banff may be too crowded, then consider visiting Kootenay National Park as it is also part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site and adjacent to Banff National Park, so you get all the beauty and less of the crowds!

• Located in southeastern British Columbia, ⁠Kootenay National Park is an amazing destination. A land of ice and fire, Kootenay National Park is a place of contrasts, with valleys and canyons carved by glaciers and grasslands marked by fire. 
• The park's famous western gateway features natural, mineral-rich hot springs perfect for unwinding.
• Marble Canyon is an impressive gorge with cascading water cutting through deep limestone walls.
• Paint Pots are a short hike to striking, cold mineral springs surrounded by bright orange and ochre earth, historically used by Indigenous peoples.
• Numa Falls is a powerful, roaring waterfall easily accessible directly from the main highway.
• Over 500 million years ago—long before dinosaurs—this land was submerged by a shallow sea. Today, fossils from that ancient marine world are found high in the mountains, pressed into layers of shale.
• Hidden in the Stanley Glacier basin are many new species of creatures which have never been seen before. These species include Cambroraster, an ancient arthropod with a shell shaped like the Millennium Falcon spaceship.
• There are 57 species of mammals in Kootenay National Park which range in size from the three gram pigmy shrew to the 450 kilogram moose - including bears, mountain lions, wolverines, wolves, deer, and more!

Clearly Kootenay National Park is a must-see place with beauty and nature - some we can still see today and some from millions of years ago! You will find more information about Kootenay National Park at this link.