June 12, 2025 - Driving to Alaska
Hot Springs and Pool
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We started today by driving down to Banff to see the Hot Springs historic site and Banff Park Museum.
First stop: the Hot Springs which can be regarded as the beginning of Banff National Park and National Park system. The hot springs feed the above ground Basin and the underground Cave.
Things really began with the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway (PCR) between 1875 and 1885. The PCR was instrumental in the colonization and development of Western Canada. The route ran right through Banff.
Native Americans had known about the springs forever, of course. And from the mid-1800s, so did non-native explorers and settlers in the area. But in 1883 three railroad workers discovered the springs and realized that money could be made by promoting the springs as a destination. They petitioned the federal government for rights to develop the land. It went all the way to the Prime Minister and eventually resulted in creating a national park.
The Banff Springs Hotel, one of the earliest of Canada's grand railway hotels, was built by the CPR in 1888 as part of its effort to promote tourism in the Canadian Rockies. Now known as the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, it still exists, is a 4-start hotel and looks spectacular. We never saw it from the road, however.
The route through Banff was chosen partly because of the Kicking Horse Pass through the Rocky Mountains, which offered a feasible crossing for the railway.
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Before we even saw the Hot Springs we saw this guy (Elk).
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| And later two more. |
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We started by visiting the Cave which is reached by tunnel from the small visitors center.
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| And here is the Cave! Notice the opening at top letting in sunlight. |
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| Standing in front of the sacred and curative waters. |
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| They don't allow soaking in the hot spring water anymore. |
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Artist conception of native Americans enjoying the cave.
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| Three railroad workers -- William and Tom McCardell and their friend Frank McCabe -- found the Cave and Basin in November 1883. They built a rough log shack next to the cave's vent hole, nicknamed the Hotel. |
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The gray brick outline marks where the large swimming pool used to be.
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| The pool opened in 1914. |
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| The pool closed in 1976 and rebuilt. It reopened in 1985 but was closed for goods in 1992, mainly because lack of use. |
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| Now a museum, this area used to be the bathing pavilion's change room. Opened in 1914, it used to have glass prism tiles covering the roof but they started leaking and were tarred over in the 1930s. |
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This is what recreational vehicles started out as!
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| Outside we check out the hot springs "Basin". |
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Starting in 1887, people could relax in the Basin and enjoy its warm, mineral-rich, spring-fed water. Many preferred it over the dark and sulphurous Cave pool. It was larger then, but has been restored back to its original size.
The Basin was closed to bathers in 1970 because the water repeatedly failed health tests.
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| The view from the top of the long building. Not bad. |
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| Looking down at where the pool was. |
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A good look at the original and distinctive octagonal structures called the Belvederes. The word comes from the Italian bello, meaning "beautiful", a vedere, meaning "to view".
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Next was a small boardwalk hike in the woods overlooking the spring buildings.
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| And there is the vent under which is the "Cave". |
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| This spot marks the birthplace of Canada's national parks and the beginning of modern Banff. |
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| A photo of the Spring discoveres: William and Tom McCardell and their friend Frank McCabe. T he fourth man is the oldest McCardell brother. |
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Pretty boardwalk walk.
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| Canadian woods. |
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Spectacular!
Canada has done a great job of preserving and displaying this historic site.
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