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RADIUM HOT SPRINGS is far less attractive than its evocative name suggests but, as the service centre for Kootenay, its tacky motels and garages are likely to claim your attention and money. The town spreads across the flats of the Columbia Valley, 3km from the southern/western entrance at the junction of Hwy 93 and Hwy 95. For information visit the park centre which has a Chamber of Commerce desk (tel 347-9331 or 1-800/347-9704, www.radiumhotsprings.com ). The hot springs (or Aquacourt) themselves (plus park visitor centre) are nicely away from the settlement, 2km north of town off the Banff-Windermere Parkway (Hwy 93) and are administered by the park authorities (daily: mid-May to mid-Oct 9am-11pm; mid-Oct to mid-May Sun-Thurs noon-9pm, Fri & Sat noon-10pm; $6 or $8.25 for day-pass during first period, $5 or $7.25 for day-pass for second period; tel 347-9485). Aboriginal peoples used the springs for centuries, and commercial white development started as early as 1890 when Roland Stuart bought the area for $160. Traces of supposedly therapeutic radium found in the water turned Stuart's investment into a recreational gold mine. When the government appropriated the springs for inclusion in the national park, it paid him $40,000 - a small fortune, but considerably less than what they were worth, which at the time was estimated to be $500,000. The pools today are outdoors, but serviced by a large, modern centre. In summer, 4000 people per day take the plunge into the odourless 45°C waters - enough to discourage any idea of a quiet swim, though in late evening or off-season (when the hot pool steams invitingly) you can escape the bedlam and pretend more easily that the water is having some sort of soothing effect. The radium traces sound a bit worrying, but 300,000 visitors a year don't seem to mind. If you have the choice, aim to stay in one of the new motels creeping up the Sinclair Valley around the hot springs area away from downtown - they're more expensive, but far more attractively sited than the thirty-odd mirror-image motels in town (where there are any number of rooms in the $50-70 bracket). Try the big 120-room Prestige Radium Hot Springs Resort for something of a treat, 1km south of the springs at 8100 Golf Course Rd (tel 347-9311 or 1-877/737-8443, www.prestigeinn.com ; $125-175), for all the trimmings (including swimming pool and massage therapist); Addison's Bungalows (tel 347-9545 or 1-800/794-5024, www.addisonsbugalows.com ; $80-100; April-Oct), a mix of 30 motel and cabin rooms nearby with units offering anything up to five bedrooms and kitchenettes; or the adjacent Mount Farnham Bungalows (tel 347-9515, www.hotspringsbc.com ; $80-100). Almost alongside the park entrance are the fourteen-room Alpen Motel (tel 347-9823; $60-80), sixteen-room Kootenay (tel 347-9490 or 1-888/788-3891; $60-80) and nine-room Crescent (tel 347-9570; $60-80) motels. Most of the motels along the main drag in town are smaller - one of the cheapest is Sunset (tel 347-9863 or 1-800/214-7413, sunset@rockies.net ; $40-60).
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