There's an invigorating hiking or biking trail for everyone in Cranbrook. The South Star Recreation Trails offer more than 30 km (18.6 mi) of hiking and biking trails. You can also ride or walk the diverse terrain and intersecting trails of Cranbrook Community Forest. Or go vertical up to the 2,900-m (9,514-ft) Fisher Peak, the highest peak in the southern Canadian Rockies. Cranbrook is within an hour's drive of many provincial parks, with campgrounds set in the spectacular Rocky Mountain Trench. Private and backcountry campsites are also available.
Tee off at one of the area's championship golf courses, including the
St. Eugene Mission Golf Resort in Cranbrook as well as
Trickle Creek and
Bootleg Gap in nearby
Kimberley. For true western hospitality, visit the region's mountainside guest ranches including Three Bars Cattle & Guest Ranch and Top of the World Guest Ranch.
Fort Steele Heritage Town is a restored 1890s pioneer boomtown, with over 60 heritage shops and display buildings. Hop aboard a steam train or a horse-drawn wagon. Discover the culture and history of the Ktunaxa Nation at the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre at the St. Eugene Mission Resort. This Spanish colonial building was constructed in 1910 and operated for 60 years as a residential school for First Nations children before its conversion into a full-service resort.
Visit nearby
Kimberley, a western mining town with a distinct Bavarian theme. Stroll the downtown Platzl, a pedestrian walking mall, and listen for one of the world's largest free-standing cuckoo clocks. You'll also want to eat in the 350-year-old "Old Bauernhaus" building, which was dismantled and shipped from southern Bavaria, then reconstructed in Kimberley.
Explore Canada's vintage railway cars at the remarkable Canadian Museum of Rail Travel. You'll see the only complete set of cars from the luxurious "Trans-Canada Limited," built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1929. Take a self-guided walking tour of Cranbrook's many historic buildings. Or head to nearby Fort Steele Heritage Town to view its heritage buildings and experience living history through street dramas in the summer months.
Discover the remarkable history of the pioneers and prospectors whose legends still haunt the ghost towns of the Cranbrook area, Fisherville and Lumberton. Take a ride on the Sullivan Mine and Railway Historical Society's train and get a glimpse into the mining history of the nearby community of
Kimberley. You'll also want to explore the language, arts, culture and history of the Ktunaxa Nation at the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre, set on the banks of the St. Mary River.
Experience the glory of rail travel by viewing some of Canada's vintage railway cars at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel. For the true enthusiast, there is also a comprehensive Historical Archives and Library, complete with photographs, books, newspapers and other artifacts.
Northeast of Cranbrook, the restored pioneer boomtown of Fort Steele Heritage Town boasts over 60 heritage shops and display buildings. See some period theatre and hop aboard a steam train or horse-drawn wagon. Visit the ghost towns of Fisherville and Lumberton. Discover the rich culture and history of the Ktunaxa Nation at the Ktunaxa Kinbasket Interpretive Centre.
Visit the Kootenay Trout Hatchery, one of BC's largest hatcheries, which produces 2.5 million trout fingerlings each year. Head to hot springs: take a dip in the wilderness setting of Lussier Hot Springs or visit Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, Canada's most popular hot spring pool complex. Both are located within a one-hour drive from Cranbrook.
The Key City Theatre brings 55 local and regional performing arts groups to the stage with over 140 performances a year. Professional touring artists from Canada and around the world also perform at the theatre. The 4,200-seat Cranbrook Recreation Centre draws headline performers and large concert crowds. Nearby,
Kimberley is home to exciting summer festivals staged in the Bavarian-themed Platzl, a pedestrian walking area. Also cheer on local favourites, the Kimberley Dynamiters, during Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action.
Experience the towering beauty of Top of the World Provincial Park, located at the Top of the World Plateau, most of which lies at an elevation in excess of 2,200 m (7,218 ft). The park's jagged peaks form a spectacular backdrop, while alpine flowers carpet the plateau.
Camping, hiking, horseback riding, cycling and seasonal wildlife viewing are just a few of the park's family-friendly features. Families also flock to Wasa Lake Provincial Park to enjoy sandy beaches as well as swimming, canoeing, camping, fishing, boating, cycling, windsurfing, waterskiing, hiking and cycling.
Visit one of the largest hatcheries in BC; the Kootenay Trout Hatchery produces 2.5 million trout fingerlings each year. The Wasa Sloughs are a seasonal sanctuary to waterfowl, eagles, osprey, great blue herons, turkey vultures and Canada geese, often found nesting atop muskrat houses.
Several hot springs in the Kootenay Rockies region soothe body and spirit. Visit the wilderness setting of nearby Lussier Hot Springs in Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park, a one-hour drive from Cranbrook. Also an hour away is Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, Canada's most popular hot spring pool complex.
Take a dip in one of the region's warmest lakes at Wasa Lake Provincial Park. Visitors flock here to enjoy all manner of water activities. The park also offers camping facilities as well as hiking and cycling trails. Moyie Lake Provincial Park features 1,300 m (4,265 ft) of developed sandy beach backed by a large grassy area, an optimal setting for swimming, windsurfing, sailing, boating, fishing and wildlife viewing. You can also indulge yourself at one of Cranbrook's local spas.
Catch all the excitement while fly-fishing in glacier-fed rivers or trout fishing by boat in the Cranbrook area. Local river-rafting companies offer family-friendly, guided adventures on the St. Mary River.
Slip into restorative mineral waters in the wilderness setting of Lussier Hot Springs. Fairmont Hot Springs Resort features Canada's largest, odourless, hot mineral pool. Both are located about a one-hour drive from Cranbrook.
Enjoy swimming the warm waters of
Wasa Lake Provincial Park, where canoeing, fishing, cycling, windsurfing and waterskiing will keep you active. Moyie Lake Provincial Park features 1,300 m (4,265 ft) of developed sandy beach.
Kimberley Alpine Resort is a top ski and snowboard destination located approximately 25 minutes from Cranbrook. This popular family resort offers light, dry powder and perfectly groomed slopes. Choose from 70 runs covering 728 ha (1,800 ac) of skiable terrain, serviced by Kimberley's eight lifts. The resort also features single- and double-track cross-country ski trails.
South Star Recreation Trails is another terrific family cross-country skiing destination. You can also point your sled down one of the many snowmobile trail networks in the Lumberton area, south of Cranbrook. A logging road leads to deep powder snow high in the Purcell Mountains.
The Perry Creek Trail System, west of Cranbrook, also offers fine trails.