Fry Creek Canyon (West Kootenay)

Perhaps my favorite day hike in the West Kootenay.  Fry Creek Canyon demands perseverance, in the form of an 1 1/2 drive from Nelson to the seldom visited NE shore of Kootenay Lake between Argenta and Johnson’s Landing.  The hike is well worth the drive as you receive crystalline pools, canyon breezes, torrential cascades, ferny cliff faces as trails hug the canyon edges near acrophobic bridges in crisp Douglas Fir forests with friendly tour guides named Bosco.  And the round trip is around 3 hours.

The trail up the canyon has been disturbed by a mudslide and you must navigate the creekbed to ascend up a ladder to regain the trail. Do not attempt during spring runoff or while creek is in spate.   Bosco will probably meet you, he’s a huge friendly brute who will keep the bears away for the price of friendship and a few slices of cheese.

And don’t eat the blue mushrooms.  – Kaptain Kananaskis