Radium Hot Springs & Kootenay National Park

Okay, real talk.

I could write about what a beautiful and interesting day it was traveling from Waterton to Kootenay National Park. (It was!) I could write about how it was Canada Day, which is Canadian Independence Day and how the little towns we drove through were gearing up for parades and street fairs. (They were!)

But, the truth is, this was a day I spent second guessing our whole choice to go on this adventure at all. The kids were both grumpy screen zombies. The drive felt extra long, despite the scenery.

Our big plan for the day, a visit to Radium Hot Springs pool, was undermined by two kids who declared they were too hungry to have any fun during the visit. (Unfortunately, no snack bars were present at this pool.) Despite it being a wonderful spot, similar to several European hot springs pools we visited in Switzerland and Italy in 2019, our visit was more about sort of toughing it out for an hour until we could meet Eli for pizza and not the glorious sun-soaked extravaganza I had anticipated.

I started thinking that maybe we shouldn’t try so hard and that maybe throwing the kids in summer camp and just calling it a day would be better.

Fortunately for all of us, Eli did a great job reading the signs and rallied everybody to get their acts together. The kids got a bit of a lecture about making the most of the vacation and I got a little pep talk too.

That seemed to do the trick. The last hour of our ride from the town of Radium Hot Springs to our campsite in Kootenay National Park included a family Disney sing-a-long and some drop dead amazing scenery.

We spent the night in a rustic campsite in Kootenay National Park where a few walks with Toby revealed a little sliver of the park’s beauty.