A Rocky, Kootenay Summer Vacation!

This is most definitely been a long time coming, but better late than never! My husband and I planned a summer vacation this past year tailored towards our kids. At 5 and 2, we built in lots of stops and bypassed some sights, like museums, that we'll leave for next time.

So for the curious, here are the highlights of our family vacation in British Columbia: (in order by visit)

1. Takakkaw Falls: We drove through Banff National Park, but did not stop at the sights. Instead, we travelled straight on to Field. Our first destination was Takakkaw Falls. A warning: this drive is not for the feint of heart or for those with long trailers (tight cutbacks on the side of the mountain to maneuver),or for those that don't want to take the 30 mile (45 mins one way)drive. However, if you can do it, the trip is worth your effort! The natural trails leading to the waterfall were fun for the kids to explore; over roots, around boulders, and along the river. At the base of the falls was a rock slide area with giant boulders perfect for my little climber, Conner.

2. The Northern Lights Wolf Centre: Leaving Golden on Highway 1 headed towards Revelstoke is perhaps the best wildlife sanctuary I have toured. Specifically built and targetted towards education about wolves as part of a healthy ecosystem, this wildlife sanctuary is home to several rescued wolves. The atmosphere is casual, and not your typical touristy stop. It's not flashy and doesn't have alot of the amenities family type places often have to offer. You can purchase basic snacks and of course support the sanctuary by buying souvenirs, but the attraction is the education you receive by the small guided tour and the chance to see the wolves up close. Admittedly, the children were too young to fully appreciate this stop, but it was a great first introduction and we plan to go again. For kids that couldn't handle listening and waiting on the tour, a table with coloring is centrally placed and easily monitored.

3. Glacier and Mount Revelstoke National Parks: There are some great campgrounds, hiking trails, lakes, rivers and sights to see. We camped outside the parks at Albert Canyon Hotsprings under the Hemlocks and then made day trips to some of the hikes suited for small legs.

Skunk Cabbage Trail: This boardwalk hike was fairly short (we walked the whole trail and extended portion in about 45 minutes). The trail winds through a unique natural wetland that is home to the strange skunk cabbage plant. A stopover for migrating birds, this is a birders' paradise. The brochure lists a good chance to see Steller's Jay, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Western Tanager, American Dippers, Magnolia Warbler, Black-headed Grosbeak, Rufous Hummingbird, Yellow Warbler, Townsend's Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Merlin, and several species of Empidonax flycatchers along the Skunk Cabbage Boardwalk Trail.

The skunk cabbage is important as it is a favorite food of bears. The habitat is very important to their health and survival. Unfortunately, with the highway being so close, many bears are killed trying to cross the road to access this important food source.

The highlight for the kids was the giant pollywogs. We're not used to tadpoles this large back in Alberta! We spent quite a bit of time on our hands and knees watching them swim about in the water and trying to spot the ones with legs. I loved the opportunity to teach the kids about amphibians like frogs, and for them to see and hear the beautiful sounds in the wetland from all the birds and local inhabitants.

Giant Cedars Trail: While a bit more challenging, both kids navigated this trail up and down several long sets of stairs with ease. The trail makes a loop up and into a rainforest, taking you under a canopy of mjastic and ancient Hemlocks. Toadstools, ferns, birds, squirrels and other wildlife were spotted along the trail. A babbling brook added to the ambience. While not as exciting as the skunk cabbage trail for the kids, Mark and I were happy to have had the chance to relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the forest.

4. The Enchanted Forest: We made this a day trip, as it's not a very far drive from where we were camping. From Revelstoke it's a beautiful drive and well worth the stop. They've recently added an adventure park there for older families: walking on ropes in the trees in Sky Trek Adventure Park. The Enchanted Forest is home to every fairy tale known. Under the canopy of the giant trees, it's a calm walk along the dirt path. There are forts and a ship for the kids to climb on, houses to explore and fish to feed. For those wanting a longer hike, there is a beaver pond complete with tiny rowboats and life jackets. It's unsupervised and about a 2mile round trip hike, but we had fun! This is a stop we plan to come back to time and time again.

We did make some other stops, and our vacation continued for about another week to join with family on a houseboat, and then out to my grandfather's burial plot at Tatlayoko Lake in the Chilcotin. But for the most part, these were the tourist-type highlights that I'd not hesitate to suggest to others with younger children. Or older, for that matter, as we plan to return to all of these again as we pass through in future years. I loved the chance to spend this time with the kids with no televisions or computers or anything much at all except each other's company.