Vermilion Crossing and Kootenay Crossing
VERMILION CROSSING , 20km south of the Paint Pots Trail, is gone in a flash, but it's the only place, in summer at least, to find lodgings, petrol and food in the park. It also has a new visitor centre, built on the site of a 1920 CPR railway camp. You can also stop to walk the Verendyre Creek Trail (2.1km), accessed west off the highway, an easy stroll, but forest-enclosed, and with only limited views of Mount Verendrye as a reward. One of the Rockies' tougher walks heads east from the Crossing, up over Honeymoon Pass and Redearth Pass to Egypt Lake and the Trans-Canada Highway in Banff National Park, while to the south equally demanding trails provide the only westside access into the wilderness of Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park . Sandwiched between Kootenay and Banff, this wilderness park was created in honour of Mount Assiniboine (3618m), a sabre-tooth-shaped mountain with one of the most dramatic profiles imaginable, whose native Stoney name means "those who cook by placing hot rocks in water". The Simpson Road Trail (8.2km) leads to the park boundary, and then divides into two paths (20km and 32km) to Lake Magog in the heart of Assiniboine. Some 8.5km beyond the Crossing look out for the Animal Lick, a spot where animals come down to lick nutrients from a natural mineral source: with luck you may see elk, mule deer and even moose here. Over the next few kilometres, for similar reasons, you might also see mountain goats by banks at the side of the road. Kootenay Crossing is no more than a ceremonial spot - it was where the ribbon was cut to open Hwy 93 in 1923 - though a clutch of short trails fan out from its park warden station, and the nearby Dolly Varden campsite is the park's only specific site for winter camping. Wardle Creek nearby is a good place to unpack a picnic if you're determined to stick to the road. Around 11km south of the Kootenay Crossing is the McLeod Meadows campsite , and immediately behind it to the east the easy Dog Lake Trail (2.7km), much tramped as an after-dinner leg-stretcher by campers (the trail can also be accessed from the highway at the picnic area 500m south). The path offers glimpses of the Kootenay Valley through the trees, and ends in a marsh-edged lake whose temperate microclimate makes it ideal for nature study. You may see deer, elk and coyotes, and - if you're lucky - bears and moose. Several types of orchid also bloom here in early summer (June & July), including white bog, round-leafed, calypso and sparrow's egg. About 11km further on, the Kootenay Valley Viewpoint offers one of the broadest views on the highway, with great vistas of the Mitchell and Vermilion mountain ranges, and with them the inevitable hordes in search of a photo opportunity.
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