Kootenay National Park is ridiculously attractive. You can’t go five feet without tripping over something to photograph. I couldn’t anyway. Most of the photo subjects are mountains. But the park also has a lot of rivers, creeks and waterfalls. Here are a few we visited:
(Top) Numa Falls — We were lucky to see this because the Numa Falls Day Use Area was closed for most of 2020 for upgrades. One upgrade was a new bridge right above the falls. It gives a great view of the deeply carved, smooth walls of the canyon.
(Above) Vermilion River — The river is a beautiful turquoise, which is odd given its name; seen here it is gentle and welcoming…hard to believe only a few hundred feet from this spot the river narrows and forms Numa Falls. Eventually it joins the Kootenay River, which we’ll see soon.
(Above) Marble Canyon — One of Kootenay National Park's biggest attractions, which was evident by the number of people walking the trail. The trail looks down on Tokumm Creek, which carved the canyon over centuries and flows into the Vermilion River. Getting to the top requires a bit of climbing and crossing bridges at sometimes dizzying heights. My conclusion: I wouldn’t want to fall in.
(Above) Kootenay River — We stopped at a calm, peaceful stretch of Kootenay River near the south end of the park. People put in canoes and kayaks here. We had our canoe, but realized we’d never be able to paddle back upstream if we went in. Instead we took off our shoes and put our feet in the water…and yep, it was frigid.
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