BC Rockies and the Purcells

Working out where to go? Browse the trip reports by objective for this area, and check the forecast before you commit.

Almost all BC Parks here, which book through a single reservation system rather than park by park.

Elk Valley (Fernie, Elkford)

• Mount Fernie — the closest campground to Fernie and its trails, reservable
• Elk Lakes — walk-in and backcountry at the head of the valley, reached by a long gravel road from Elkford
• Kikomun Creek — south towards Cranbrook, larger and warmer

Columbia Valley (Invermere, Radium)

• Dry Gulch — small, just south of Radium and handy for both the Purcells and Kootenay National Park
• Whiteswan Lake and Top of the World — east into the Rockies on forest service roads; Top of the World is backcountry only

The Bugaboos

• Bugaboo Provincial Park — the Applebee Dome camping area and the Conrad Kain Hut, the latter booked through the Alpine Club of Canada

Hostels

• HI Fernie Backpacker Hostel — in town, the only one in this region

Alpine Club of Canada huts

Huts book through the Alpine Club of Canada on a rolling window — six months ahead for members, three for everyone else.

• Bugaboo Hut (Conrad Kain) — below the Bugaboo spires, a steep hike from the Bugaboo Provincial Park road
• Elk Lakes Cabin — in Elk Lakes Provincial Park, most often reached over Elk Pass from Peter Lougheed rather than from the BC side

Radium is also the southern gate to Kootenay National Park, and Golden the link to Yoho and Rogers Pass.

Recreation sites

Free and cheap camping on Crown land, first come, first served — see how it works for the rules and the road caveats. The one worth knowing here is small:

• Bugaboo-Septet — four free sites on Bugaboo Creek, with the spires visible upstream, used as the basecamp for hikes into Bugaboo Provincial Park and for Chalice Creek, Bugaboo Pass and Silver Basin. It is the nearest thing to a road-accessible camp for the Bugaboos short of the park's own Applebee.
• Butts — three free sites on the Flathead Border Road south of Fernie, with a Forest Service cabin open to the public and a short walk west to Beryl and Marl lakes.
• Lake Enid and Cartwright Lake near Invermere, and Horseshoe Lake near Cranbrook, are the free lakeside sites in the Columbia Valley and around Cranbrook. They are places to sleep rather than trailheads.

The Elk Valley and Columbia Valley sites are mostly fishing lakes, so the better hiking basecamps remain the BC Parks campgrounds above. Golden's sites are listed under Rogers Pass, the Selkirks, and Golden.