Practicalities
The Rogers Pass visitor centre (daily: April to mid-June & mid-Sept to Oct 9am-5pm; mid-June to mid-Sept 8am-8.30pm; Nov Thurs-Mon 9am-5pm; Dec-March 7am-5pm tel 250/837-6274 or 837-7500, www.parkscanada.pch.gc.ca/glacier ), 1km west of Rogers Pass, is a draw in itself, attracting some 160,000 visitors annually. It houses a variety of high-tech audiovisual aids, including a fun video on avalanche control called Snow Wars . In summer (July & Aug), book here for guided walks (1-6hr) featuring flowers, wildlife and glaciers, some of them fairly strenuous and lasting up to six hours. Walks start at the Illecillewaet Campground Welcome Station . Also ask about trips to the Nakimu Caves , some of the largest in Canada: they were opened to the public (in the company of experienced guides only) in 1995. If you're heading for the backcountry, pick up Footloose in the Columbias , a hiker's guide to Glacier and Revelstoke national parks; you can also buy good walking maps . Next to the visitor centre, a garage and a shop are the only services on the Trans-Canada between Golden and Revelstoke, an hour's drive east and west respectively. Accommodation is best sought in Golden . The sole in-park hotels are the excellent fifty-room Best Western Glacier Park Lodge (tel 250/837-2126 or 1-800/528-1234; $125-175), located just east of the visitor centre, and the 24-unit Heather Mountain Lodge (tel 250/344-7490; closed Nov), 20km east of the Pass: both tend to be full in season. If you're passing through, it has a useful 24-hour service and cafeteria. Other places close to Glacier's borders are the ten-unit Purcell Lodge (tel 250/344-2639; $125-175; mid-June to mid-Oct; mid-Dec to April; two-night minumum stay), a remote lodge at 2180m on the eastern border accessible only by hiking trail, scheduled helicopter flights or winter ski trails; Canyon Hot Springs Resort Campground , 35km east of Revelstoke (tel 250/837-2420; cabins $175-240, tent sites $19-25; May-Sept), which has mineral hot and warm springs, secluded sites, cafe, firewood and 12 cabins with B&B deals available; Hillside Lodge , 1740 Seward Front Rd (tel 250/344-7281; $80-100) - nine cosy cabins set in sixty acres 13km west of Golden at Blaeberry River with breakfast included; and Big Lake Resort , Kinbasket Lake (no phone; rooms $40-60, tents $12; May-Oct), 25km west of Golden off Hwy 1 at Donald Station. The park-run campsites are the 57-site Illecillewaet ($13; mid-June to early Oct; also winter camping), 3.4km west of the visitor centre just off the Trans-Canada (and the trailhead for eight walks), and the twenty-site Loop Brook , 2km further west ($13; mid-June to mid-Oct; self-serve check-in), which provides the luxuries of wood, water and flush toilets only on a first-come, first-served basis. If you don't manage to get into these, or want more facilities, there are three commercial campsites west of the park on the Trans-Canada towards Revelstoke. Wilderness camping is allowed anywhere if you register with the visitor centre, pay for a nightly backcountry camping permit ($6) and pitch more than 5km from the road.
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