As we departed Saskatchewan we were still waffling as to which direction to go – south along Hwy 3 to avoid possible cold and snow, or north to Rocky Mountain House to explore a new area. The forecast was favourable either direction in terms of temperature although the winds were supposed to increase significantly, so we decided to go to Radium Hot Springs and stay at the the National campground there for a night, visit the hot springs next day, and then head south. The drive started out decently, but while driving the ring road in Calgary and past Canmore the winds had increased to an uncomfortable level making the drive very tense. When we turned at Banff to head southward the winds decreased and made the drive much better. For over an hour of the drive we drove past charred hills from a past wildfire and it was a stark reminder of this years unprecedented wildfire season.
The town of Radium Hot Springs was insanely busy with traffic because of the hwy 1 closure at Golden, but we arrived to find a really nice campground called Redstreak high up overlooking the town. The fee for a night $33 and extra fee if you have a fire – to be paid next morning as the kiosk was closed when we arrived. From the camp you can walk a 1.5 km trail into town, or a 2.7 km trail to the hot springs (described as being steep in places). We will definitely stay again and take advantage of the hot springs at night – they close at 7 or 8 p.m. depending, and the walk into town for dinner because the choices of restaurants looked really good.
Next morning we took our time getting ready as the hot springs open at 11:00. Driving back to the hot springs which is a few km outside the town, we encountered tons of traffic. We parked at the large lot across from the springs and got in line to wait for it to open and already quite a few people were in line. After 2 hours relaxing it was hard to get back into Portage and drive when we just felt like napping, but we had purposely chose our next destination only a short 2 hour drive away.